Sentimental Nonsense
by TiffyAngel
Summary: Piccolo wants the fandom smut to stop, but will that be an easy task to accomplish? Not if I have a say in the matter! Ch.17 is up and it is EL FIN!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This may seem a lot like CyndiLovesPiccolo's style. What can I say? She's a great author. I also feel the need to do a self-insertion just because I'm going through a rough break-up and Piccolo has always been my rock in tough times. The nameless guy in this story is true to the nature of my ex-boyfriend. I am a second year in college in this story and already have an apartment, which I live in all alone. I hope this doesn't suck. _^  
  
*Don't turn around... Don't let him see me...*  
  
"TA?"  
  
*Shit... Shit... Shit...*  
  
A strong hand grasped my slender arm and tugged gently, urging me to turn around. I stood with my back to him, my hand trembling as I locked the door to my apartment.  
  
*Safe...*  
  
"TA..." He was getting annoyed; I knew it... Even though he always refers to me by my initials, his tone says it all.  
  
I took a deep breath and turned to face him. My eyes squeezed shut involuntarily and I cursed my stupidity because the subtle move caused two tears to escape the sanctuary of my eyelashes.  
  
*Busted...*  
  
I opened my eyes slowly, taking in his furrowed brows and his penetrating stare. He knew who this was about. He knew perfectly well who was causing me this pain again.  
  
"What did that fucker do this time?"  
  
"Piccolo, he didn't mean it...."  
  
"Don't give me that bullshit, what did he do?!"  
  
I lowered my head and sighed; there was no easy way around it. "He left me at a party..."  
  
I cowered slightly as I heard a familiar growl rise up out of his throat. "Why didn't you call me?"  
  
"Because... I didn't want you to get angry with him..."  
  
"TA, I don't know what goes through your head sometimes!"  
  
"I know..."  
  
"Aren't you mad at him? And what the fuck caused him to leave you so suddenly? I thought things were going well for once."  
  
"I was mad... but now I'm just really... sad. He left because we had a disagreement about how long we should stay at the party..."  
  
Piccolo raised a skeptical brow ridge at me.  
  
"I don't really like to party as much as he does... I don't even drink that much anyway... and parties get really boring in this stupid cow town after the first five minutes, anyway."  
  
Piccolo smirked at me and I knew he agreed.  
  
"I tried to get Collins and KC to go with me but they were watching a movie. I figured it'd be no big deal to just go to the party with him for a while, even though I really didn't feel like going, and then go home on my own. I'm a big girl, aren't I?"  
  
Again that green brow ridge perked up and I resisted the urge to giggle and punch the Namek in the arm, while, at the same time, I resisted the urge to cry my eyes out.  
  
"So I told him I'd go but that I'd go home when I wanted to and he got all pissy at me! He said he wanted to stay all night long and that if I left any earlier, he'd feel obligated to leave with me and then be in a bad mood. I told him he shouldn't feel obligated to do anything for me and that I can take care of myself and that I sure as hell didn't want to waste my Friday night at some stupid party. He wouldn't talk to me after that... even when we got into the car to go to the party. Once we were there and he'd had a few drinks, he tried to get all mushy on me. I'm not a big fan of public displays of affection in the first place, but, most importantly, I felt like he didn't even care about how I felt. Like he thought he could just make me feel like crap and then come back and get me whenever HE was feeling better, regardless of how I felt at the time."  
  
Piccolo took my hand and led me over to the large sofa in the middle of my living room. He sat down next to me and let me continue my story.  
  
"When I told him he needs to have more concern for my feelings... he got mad again, but this time he left me behind. He just walked out the door without another word. I spent an hour looking for him, scared out of my freakin' mind, before I called his cell. That's when I found out he'd left me..."  
  
The whites of Piccolo's fangs were showing and I was afraid to continue so I just sat there like a manikin.  
  
"How did you get home, kid?"  
  
"I called Tipsy Taxi... I'm not drunk though. Really."  
  
The Namek smirked at me, "Good. Saves me the effort of having to kick your ass. I still owe you a good one for not breaking up with this son of a bitch sooner! You... have broken up with him... haven't you?" Piccolo's tone was serious and I felt my stomach do a flip-flop.  
  
"Um... See, that's what's gunna get you a little upset. I... I don't want to call it off just yet. I wanna see if we can work things out."  
  
True to his nature, the fire in Piccolo's eyes sprang to life and I backed away as slowly as I could. "T... A..." he said in a lethal tone, "What the fuck is wrong with you?"  
  
"I love him, Piccolo; please don't be mad at me!"  
  
"What the fuck, TA?! This kid has no respect for you! It's almost 1AM and he hasn't even stopped by to see how you're doing AFTER HE LEFT YOU AT A PARTY! What is so difficult about leaving an asshole like that?!"  
  
The large man stood up from my couch and stormed out of the front door. With a loud slam, Piccolo announced his departure.  
  
"Piccolo has left the building..." I sighed into the warmth of my hands. I knew where he was going and I'd probably be getting a phone call from the two of them soon. I swear, he gets along with my best friend better than he does with me sometimes... Maybe I am a baka onna, as he likes to call me...  
  
I stood up from the couch and dragged my feet to my bedroom. I pulled the door shut before I collapsed on my small day bed, inhaling his scent off of my frilly pink sheets.  
  
*I hate pink... And I hate his scent...*  
  
No, that wasn't Piccolo I was referring to... the scent assaulting my nostrils belonged to the boy that was causing me so much pain right now... but we'll get into that later. As for Piccolo, you're probably wondering how we got together.  
  
I've been a fan-fiction writer for almost four years now and all of my stories revolve around the true love of my life. Piccolo. Of course, he doesn't feel the same way and it's been hell trying to convince him that I'm not some psycho stalker. I dunno how well my words work on him but he seems to pay attention whenever I say mean things like, "I didn't even think you were real!" or "A writer can remain totally detached from her writing! What makes you think I'd be in love with you?" I don't mean it, of course, but Piccolo would probably ignore me for the rest of my life if he knew how I really felt. Thank God there's one person I can talk to about my silent admiration. My best friend, Jay-chan. She's not only the one person who'll listen to my incessant jabber about the one man I wish I could be with, but she's also been quite the soldier in the face of Piccolo's heated interrogations; she's never let a secret of mine slip, even when he threatened to blast her house to rubble on a not so happy evening. They get along a lot better now though. Instead of going awol on me, Piccolo usually flies off to vent his frustrations to Jay-chan.  
  
Anyway, their relationship can be explained later. How I met Piccolo... Okay, as I've said before, I've been a fan-fiction writer for almost four years now and, as I became more experienced in my private life, my stories took on a more adult, a more sexy, outlook on my ideal love for Piccolo. That's not a problem, right? I mean, thousands of other people draw erotic pictures or write sexy stories about the Namek; what's the harm if he's just a cartoon character?  
  
As I was preparing for class the first quarter of my second year in college, I was startled by the sound of an angry fist pounding on my apartment door. Fearing for the worst, I grabbed my keys in my hand, holding them at the ready. I opened the door slowly, only to have it blow back in my face by the sheer force of the wind howling outside. I heard the sound of heavy footsteps on my carpet and my heart began to race.  
  
"Are you TiffyAngel?" came an unfamiliar baritone voice.  
  
*Oh God, it's a psycho fan!*  
  
I scrambled to my feet, holding my key in a determined hand, and locked my gaze with...  
  
"PICCOLO?!"  
  
"So you are TiffyAngel," his obsidian eyes narrowed to mere slits. He threw hundreds of papers at my feet with a simple flick of his wrist. "Wanna explain all of this?"  
  
I picked up one of the pages closest to me. In my state of nervous shock, I was only able to scan over the document, recognizing such words as "Deshee" and "Metshius" within the text.  
  
*Oh God... Piccolo is a psycho fan!*  
  
"Um..." My palms were sweaty. "Do you like them?"  
  
Piccolo snorted, "I'm hardly a fan."  
  
"Then what are you doing here? I mean, holy CRAP! How did you get here?! You don't exist! Oh my God, I'm going insane!"  
  
I made a mad dash for my bedroom but was intercepted by Piccolo's masculine arm and he threw me, with all the strength of a real being, onto the floor. He glowered down at me.  
  
"You have no idea how easy it is for documents to cross dimensions once they're left to the forces of the Internet, do you?"  
  
The room began to spin.  
  
"You... You're from another dimension?"  
  
Piccolo frowned, "I should give you a fuckin' medal, huh?"  
  
My forehead felt really warm.  
  
"Wh-Why are you here? How did you get here?"  
  
The Namek smirked in his arrogant way, "Simple teleportation. It's not that hard to cross dimensions, human. And I'm here because I want this smut to stop."  
  
I felt myself growl, "It's not smut!"  
  
Piccolo delivered a swift kick to my side and I flew into the kitchen counter. Now the room was really spinning.  
  
"I want you to start another one of these fan-fics," he spat the word out with a vengeance, "and tell all of those other nymphos out there in cyber space to stop dirtying up my name. Maybe Goku and Vegeta are fine with all the attention but I'm sick of it!"  
  
I struggled to get to my feet, "Why me? Why do I have to do it?"  
  
"Simply because you were the luck of the draw..."  
  
"Lucky me," I mumbled under my breath and then cowered for fear of further punishment.  
  
"I want the first chapter of this Anti-Piccolo-Fans story up by the end of the day. Post it on fanfiction.net since they seem to get a lot of Internet traffic. I'll be back by sun down and if it's not up by then, you won't be a happy author."  
  
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Okay, lemme get this straight! You're from another dimension and can dimension-hop with simple teleportation. I think I can stomach that. But how does the Internet cross dimensions? And since when are you so computer savvy? You never went to school, you're supposed to be stupid or something!"  
  
His death glare shut me up after that one.  
  
"To answer your first question, gaki, no one can control the Net. Who knows where all of the information in it goes? Well, in my dimension, humans also have access to an Internet. Somehow, the information from your dimension's Internet and the information from my dimension's Net merged. I can access information about anyone in your dimension that I want to. I found out about this Internet nonsense through Gohan. He found several sites from unknown locations in a random search he performed one day and stumbled upon a shrine dedicated to himself. He contacted me and together we searched this new niche in the Net. I found out that I also have a small handful of fans, most of whom seem to live in a place called the United States, and that's how I found you. After several searches, I noticed that your name came up a few times and decided to check you out. You seem to have SOME talent as an author, so I figure you can reach as many people as possible without making me sound stupid. Since I don't have as many fans as say, Gohan, it should be relatively easy for you to contact all of them and let them know that this nonsense had better stop."  
  
*Easy?! What the heck is he thinking?!*  
  
"Anyway, you better get to work on de-brainwashing those hopeless fools because you only have until sunset," and with that, he flew out of the open door, the burst of wind from his take off sending the papers on my floor into a frenzy.  
  
I rested my head on the floor and fell asleep, completely exhausted. A few moments later, I awoke. My living room was a total wreck, pages scattered everywhere.  
  
*What the hell?*  
  
My head felt really heavy and I felt totally disoriented. An image of Piccolo flashed through my mind but I shrugged it off as a simple dream. I glanced at my watch and shrieked. I was twenty minutes late for class! I shook my head and decided against going in late; I'll just ditch. I reached for one of the papers on the floor and scanned its contents. It was a page from one of my older Piccolo fan-fictions, but what was it doing out here? I haven't worked on those stories in months... Again the image of Piccolo flashed through my mind. I groaned and dragged myself back to bed.  
  
*I've been working too hard...* 


	2. Chapter 2

RING RING RING...  
  
Dammit... I'm sorry, that's probably Jay-chan and Piccolo... I'll have to continue my story later.  
  
I walked over to the small, black phone and lifted the headpiece off of the receiver. "Hello?" came my nervous reply.  
  
"Tiffy?"  
  
"That would be me."  
  
"It's Jay-chan. I'm sure you know Piccolo is here."  
  
"... Yeah..."  
  
"What is going on over there? That jerk left you all alone at a party?"  
  
"... Yeah..."  
  
"Piccolo says you're just sitting there and taking it. Have you talked to-- -"  
  
BOOM BOOM BOOM  
  
The entire apartment seemed to shudder under the weight of the fist pounding on my door. I sucked in a breath, hearing a faint "What the fuck?" from Piccolo on the other end of the phone.  
  
BOOM BOOM BOOM  
  
"Tiffy, what the heck is that?"  
  
"I think that's him. Hold on."  
  
I set the phone down on the couch and crept over to the door. Peering into the peep hole, I could see the distorted face of my significant other. I gripped the dead bolt between my sweaty fingers and unlocked the door. Once I'd undone the bolt and the chain, I opened the door to face a very flustered boy of about six feet. The memories of how alone I'd felt at that party and how angry Piccolo had been at me came flooding back as I stared into his acidic green eyes. I swallowed a snarl.  
  
"This shit is over..." I whispered.  
  
"No fucking kidding!" came his forced reply.  
  
I felt my jaw drop. What did he mean by that? He's agreeing with me? He should be pissing his pants right now!  
  
He stormed into my apartment, the floorboards moaning their protest with each heavy step he took. His chest heaved with the extreme effort he seemed to be making to keep himself from exploding right there in my living room.  
  
"I didn't leave you," he stated in an even tone.  
  
My stomach bent over backward inside, "What?!"  
  
"I didn't leave you!" he shouted, as if I hadn't heard him correctly the first time.  
  
"What the hell do you call what you just did?!" My cheeks burned with outrage and I felt the bile in my stomach begin to rise.  
  
"You pushed me to it! You wouldn't drop it!"  
  
"What, and I was supposed to sit there like your lap dog and take all the shit you give me and swallow my pride when you want to be with me again?! Do you still not understand that you can't treat me like that and expect me to be fine with it?"  
  
His eyes narrowed and he raked his fingers through his hair, "There you go again! What's your problem?!"  
  
"My problem is that you didn't care at all about how I felt!"  
  
"Well, you wouldn't stay at the party! What about how I feel, huh? It's always about you!"  
  
"What?! It's quite the opposite! I finally went to the stupid party, I stayed even longer than YOU in the end, but when I wanted to tell you how I felt, you left in a huff and you still don't care about my feelings! Now, who is this about?"  
  
His fingers raced through his hair again and I swore I saw steam rush out of his ears. A red flag went up in my head and I opened the door.  
  
"I don't want you in my home with that attitude..."  
  
"WHAT ATTITUDE?!"  
  
"Lower your voice... The people around us deserve to sleep too."  
  
"FUCK PEOPLE!"  
  
My eyes narrowed and I saw him flinging his arms in rage through the fine lines of my eyelashes.  
  
"Get out. This is over."  
  
The large male glowered at me before he turned and walked out the open door. Securing the lock and chain, I raced over to the phone.  
  
"Oh my God, he's finally gone!"  
  
"What the hell happened?" came Jay-chan's startled voice.  
  
"I called it off."  
  
"Whoa! Really?!"  
  
"Yeah... He was being really mean and..." I felt a tear slide down my cheek, warm and wet and painful, "... he didn't care about how I felt at all..."  
  
"That must have been really tough, Tiffy... I'm proud of you and you can bet Piccolo is too."  
  
I heard a loud snort on the other end of the line and smiled despite myself.  
  
"So now what?" was my only reply.  
  
"Now, I think Piccolo can go back home to you."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Are you gunna be alright?"  
  
"I guess..."  
  
"Do you still wanna talk?"  
  
"Not really. There isn't much else to talk about..."  
  
"Okay." I could tell she wasn't buying a word I said, but what could she do?  
  
"I'll talk to ya later. Thanks for calling."  
  
"No prob, Tif. Piccolo, go home!"  
  
"Bye."  
  
"Bye."  
  
I dropped the headpiece back into the holder and sat with my hands between my legs, the warm tears spilling down my cheeks. I could barely feel them as they trickled past my nose, clinging to the tip of my chin before taking the fatal dive into the carpet below.  
  
Piccolo's gunna be home soon and you guys still don't know why he's with me in the first place. Lemme continue my story, it'll help get my mind off of things.  
  
So, I totally forgot about my mysterious visit from Piccolo that morning and spent the rest of my day chatting with various friends on-line or on the phone. Later that night, as I was stirring a pot of spaghetti sauce, there was a loud knock on my door. I glanced at it and raised my eyebrow. I wasn't expecting anyone that night; midterms were right around the corner and everyone I knew was cramming 'til all hours in the night. Still, I managed to pull myself away from my concoction and answer the door. I'd barely undone the chain when my visitor barged right through the threshold and into my living room.  
  
"It's not up yet!" came a deep baritone snarl.  
  
I turned around and let out an ear-piercing shriek. The poor Namek fell to the floor in the fetal position almost instantly, clutching at his large, pointed ears. All I could do was stare in wonder... and then I remembered the so-called "dream" I'd had earlier. That was no dream and something in the pit of my stomach was telling me that I was in big trouble.  
  
I ran into my kitchen and fetched the suffering green man a glass of water. I padded over to where Piccolo was writhing on the carpet and knelt before him, offering the glass as some form of consolation. A green, clawed hand reached for the glass. His large fingers wrapped around the base of the glass and began to squeeze until the glass burst all around me. I jumped back, surprised by this sudden action. Piccolo looked up at me from under his fierce brow ridges, his expression terrifying.  
  
"I told you I wanted that first chapter up by sunset, TA. Where the fuck is it?!" he winced at his own tone and I relaxed a little bit, realizing my voice had a lot of power over Piccolo and his sensitive hearing. But still. I was nervous as all hell.  
  
"You're never gunna believe this...." I started with a strained smile, "I fell asleep after you left, totally missed my class for the day, and I completely forgot about our little visit! It was like sudden amnesia or something..."  
  
Piccolo's eyes were piercing into my own, his upper lip quivering with barely concealed anger. He dragged himself to his feet and began a slow march toward me. "Sudden amnesia or something?" he snarled in a low tone. "You think I'm fucking stupid?"  
  
"Holy hell!" a young, youthful female voice echoed from the doorway and both Piccolo and I turned to see my best friend, Jay-chan, standing in the doorway, her eyes wide like saucers.  
  
Piccolo turned on her, grabbing her arm, yanking her inside, and slamming the door all in one swift motion. "Oh this is just great! Now I have to deal with two of you idiots!" The Namekian practically threw Jay-chan at me. "TA, you go tell this bitch what's going on. Since she's involved now, she might prove useful in convincing you to write that story for me." A wicked grin flashed across his emerald face. My stomach clenched up but at the same time that evil look sent desire coursing through my veins. Pushing the invading feeling out of my quickly clouding mind, I took a very disoriented Jay-chan's hand and led her to my bedroom for debriefing.  
  
Piccolo was suckling water from the kitchen faucet when Jay-chan and I returned and I stifled a giggle before heading toward the cabinet to hand him a cup. The demon lord snatched the cup out of my hand with an indignant snort. "So she knows?"  
  
"Yes," I reliped in a soft voice.  
  
"Good, now know this, for every day you miss a chapter assignment, I will break one of your friend's bones."  
  
Jay-chan let out a squeak of protest and my eyes flew open. I felt the fires of rage building and I spat out a nasty, "I don't think so!" before I could help myself.  
  
Piccolo turned on me, his cape snapping back behind him. I knew I was in for it big time... so I did the only thing I could think of. I screamed.  
  
Several moments later, Piccolo was stretched out across my couch, an icepack on his forehead.  
  
"Oh Kami-sama..." he moaned.  
  
I looked down at the defeated warrior and felt a bit guilty. Jay-chan, on the other hand, didn't.  
  
"You're a big jerk, you know! You can't just use me as a means! I hope Tiffy screams at you until your ears bleed! You're not scary!"  
  
Piccolo looked up at me, a pleading look in his eyes. I'd never seen that look before, not even when the Piccolo on Cartoon Network looked at Gohan, and it increased my guilt ten-fold.  
  
"Hey Jay-chan, maybe we can bitch at Piccolo later, huh?"  
  
"Hell no! This jerk wants to break my bones!"  
  
The Namekian warrior let out a pitiful moan of protest, "Alright! I won't use you! Kami-sama... Maybe it's better that way. Then I won't have to hear your annoying voice anymore!"  
  
Jay-chan flew to Piccolo's side, flames ready to burst from her ears, "Annoying voice, huh?!"  
  
"Jay-chan!" I called her back.  
  
The long haired woman marched to my side and glowered down at the ailing man on my couch. "You want your story written, you're gunna have to do US some favors! First of all, Tiffy will write your story if and only if you help her get out of this horrible relationship she's stuck in."  
  
Piccolo's eyes flew open and he looked over at me.  
  
Jay-chan continued, "Her boyfriend is a total jerk and treats her like crap. Of course Tiffy is too forgiving to actually leave him so I think you could do her a whole lot of good. Maybe you could even beat her boyfriend up for us!"  
  
"I don't want any more humans involved," he stated in a flat, even tone.  
  
Jay-chan pouted, "Fine! But you have to help her; teach her to be more independent and assertive in the face of that asshole. She has to take steps toward freedom and I'm holding you responsible for her progress! For each Jay-chan approved step Tiffy makes in the right direction, Tiffy will be assigned a five page chapter to your anti-Piccolo fan fic. For the conclusion of the story, Tiffy must break-up with her boyfriend willingly, enlightened by you, Mr. Jerk!"  
  
I stood back in wonder as my best friend dealt the cards to both Piccolo and me, without so much as a fearful glance toward the demon lord on my couch. Her bold demeanor seemed to have Piccolo stupefied and he didn't so much as utter a protest, he just watched her yammer away.  
  
"So that's the deal, Mr. Piccolo! Any questions?"  
  
Piccolo just lay there and my throat went dry. Piccolo was gunna help me out of my relationship? How would that work? Would he even care enough to have any kind of effect?  
  
"No questions? Good! Good night you two and don't stay up too late now!" Jay-chan winked at us as she headed toward the door. She stopped suddenly and looked at me, "Oh yeah Tif, I loved your newest update on DevART, Piccolo needs some more clothes though!" And with that, she left the both of us in an atmosphere of absolute powerlessness and embarrassment.  
  
"You're an artist too?" came his question after a few long moments of dead silence.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Fuck." 


	3. Chapter 3

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK...  
  
That'd be Piccolo. Just a sec. I got up off of the couch and dragged myself to the door. I undid the bolt and chain robotically and opened the door to see a very somber Namek on my stoop.  
  
"Hey kid..."  
  
"Hey..."  
  
His eyes were fixed to the floor. "I heard what happened," he mumbled.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
His obsidian eyes finally darted upward and fixed me with a quizzical look. I couldn't tell what thoughts were lurking beyond those pools of darkness. Was that sympathy? Pity? Confusion? It's so hard to read this guy.  
  
"So, he's gone for good?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Piccolo's eyes never left mine and I watched him clench and unclench his jaw; I could tell he was having a hard time saying what was on his mind.  
  
"So now that he's gone... you'll finish my story, right?"  
  
Every nerve in my body slammed on its electric breaks. I felt like I was gunna black out right there. He did NOT just say that, did he? The fire in my stomach came to life and I snarled. "FUCK YOU!" And I slammed the door in his face. I paced back and forth in my living room, racking my trembling fingers through my short hair. What an asshole! Was there not a descent guy around to depend on? UGH!  
  
You, reader! Let's continue our little story since Piccolo is being such an ass! Anyway, I went to bed almost immediately after Jay-chan left, too embarrassed by her comments to hang around Piccolo for much longer. The next morning was quite interesting to say the least.  
  
My alarm clock woke me up at around 9:00AM and I somehow managed to drag myself out of bed. I padded into the living room and noticed that my guest was still asleep. His face was completely relaxed, the angry creases that constantly decorated his handsome face were gone and the smoothness that remained made him look several years younger. I crept closer to him, mindful of his sensitive hearing. Resting on my knees at the foot of the couch, I listened to the powerful warrior breathe. My eyelids became heavy and I decided to rest my head on the edge of the couch for a moment. It's not like Piccolo would ever find out anyway.  
  
Of course Lady Luck has a vendetta with me cuz I was rudely awoken by a sharp nail jabbing me between the shoulder blades. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and gazed up at a very perturbed Piccolo.  
  
"Uh... Morning..."  
  
"Yeah right." Piccolo leapt off the couch and marched into the kitchen to get a glass of water. "Don't you have a boyfriend or something?"  
  
Aie... He must think I'm really pathetic... "Yeah I do."  
  
"Then sleep with him. I don't appreciate the company."  
  
My cheeks burned bright red and I buried my face in the cushions on the couch. After several moments, he spoke up again.  
  
"TA, you keep a diary or something?"  
  
I froze. "Yeah..."  
  
"Let me read it."  
  
"What?!"  
  
His narrow eyes fixed me with an irritated stare, "I don't wanna hear your sob stories from you. The less interaction between us, the better. Gimme your diary so I can be up to speed on things with your relationship and figure out the quickest way to get you to leave this bastard."  
  
"You really want out of here fast, huh?"  
  
"Why the fuck not? It's not like I have people here I care about."  
  
I felt my heart sink into my stomach.  
  
"Anyway, gimme that diary shit now."  
  
I stood up from my place on the floor, "It's mainly on-line... Some things I'm gunna have to fill you in on myself... the really personal things."  
  
Piccolo snorted, "Fine, I guess I can handle that."  
  
BAM BAM BAM!  
  
"TA!!! OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR! YOUR EX IS COMING!!!"  
  
What the heck?! Sorry about the interruption but this sounds serious! I raced to the door and threw it open. Piccolo peeled into the living room and then made a mad dash for the bathroom.  
  
"I'LL BE HIDING OUT IN HERE!" came his explanation.  
  
I strode over to the doorway and saw my ex-significant other crossing the street. He looked up at me and waved shyly. I waited in the threshold until he was up on my front step.  
  
"What are you doing here so late?" I crossed my arms across my chest.  
  
"Tif... I had to see you again." His usually green eyes were a sorrowful blue.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I'm so sorry. Please don't let it end like this. I'll change, I really will. That stupid party doesn't even matter. Just please give this another try. Please Tiffy, please."  
  
I looked at him as he begged and groveled for another chance. He was plucking my heartstrings and I felt the tears in my eyes building up. They stung and threatened to spill forth at a moment's notice. How could he do this to me? I was finally rid of him and now... now I'm not so sure. I miss him. I want him to hold me and kiss me and tell me he loves me and that everything is gunna be okay.  
  
"Please, please, Tiffy. Please..."  
  
His handsome face is imprinted in my mind and my heart and I don't want to live with ghost memories. I want him to dance with me, make love with me, and sleep in my bed at night, every night.  
  
"Please, please, please..."  
  
"Alright..." 


	4. Chapter 4

I stood in the doorway. Frozen. He was back in my life and heading toward me now. His arms reached out and wrapped around my torso, pulling me up against his large chest. He bowed his head and covered my lips with his. I could barely move; I was just going through the motions. But this is right, isn't it? This can work, right?  
  
His lips traveled to the base of my neck and I closed my eyes out of habit, a little sigh escaping my lips.  
  
"Can I come inside?"  
  
I opened my eyes slowly, ready to jump into his arms and into bed... and then I remembered Piccolo.  
  
"I really have to get to bed. It's so late. I'll see you tomorrow though, okay?" I gave him a small smile to reassure him that everything was alright in my mixed up head.  
  
"Okay, sure." He returned my smile and headed down the steps slowly, his eyes never leaving mine. "Good night. I love you."  
  
"I love you too..." came my whispered reply.  
  
When he was finally out of sight, I closed the door and leaned against it, a small smile on my face. Everything was alright again. Thank God.  
  
"TA..." a gruff voice sounded in front of me.  
  
I opened my eyes to see Piccolo standing in my living room, his arms crossed defiantly across his chest and his brows drawn low.  
  
"Piccolo?"  
  
"What the fuck just happened?! I could hear that bastard groveling like a mutt all the way in the bathroom. I swear I almost pissed myself with a damn toilet right next to me! Tell me you didn't fall for that shit..." He took one look at my face and his expression grew even more grim. "I see. You're still a fucking child! When the hell are you gunna grow up?!"  
  
My eyes flashed and I ground my teeth together, "Oh please, you're just mad because now you have to stay in my world a little longer!"  
  
Piccolo's expression dropped suddenly. His eyelids closed and he took a deep breath before opening his eyes again. "Please move away from the door, kid."  
  
I moved to the side without question and watched as the suddenly defeated warrior walked out the door without another word. He jetted off into the air with a blast of raw energy and disappeared from sight in mere seconds. Jerk.  
  
I grabbed up a jacket from the nearest closet and my keys from the kitchen counter. I headed out the door, locked the apartment up, making plans to head over to my boyfriend's place. What? Piccolo left first!  
  
It's a bit of a walk, so allow me to continue our story. So, I led Piccolo into my bedroom, praying that he wouldn't comment on all of the fan art I had up on my wall. My computer is always on so I was on livejournal's website in a matter of seconds. I know Piccolo appreciated that. Then he saw how many entries I had.  
  
"Shit."  
  
"Yeah, I'm a busy writer."  
  
His face paled a bit as he scrolled through the pages of my life. "Maybe we should start with the really personal stuff before I try to tackle this."  
  
I sat down on my bed, "Sure." I patted the space next to me, offering him a place to rest, but his raised brow ridge let me know he needed no resting place if it was gunna be anywhere near me.  
  
"So," I wrung my fingers together. "Are you gunna ask me some questions? Or..."  
  
"Sure. Have you had sex?"  
  
My eyes flew open and I blushed profusely. "Wow, you sure are blunt!"  
  
"Just answer the question."  
  
"Okay... Yes, I have."  
  
"With this boy?"  
  
"Yes. He's my first."  
  
"You're what?" Piccolo's brow rose even higher.  
  
"He's the first guy I've ever made love with. In our society, a girl's first is important. Usually a girl's first is also her last."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because she's usually married when she first has sex."  
  
"I see. You're not married are you?" His expression bordered on terrified until I shook my head.  
  
"No, don't worry, it's not gunna be that hard to get me out of this relationship."  
  
"Good, I've seen these marriages you speak of and I don't wanna go there."  
  
"Oh God, like Chichi and Goku?" I grinned, imagining a demonized Chichi racing after Goku with a frying pan held high.  
  
The corner of his mouth tugged upward for a brief moment. "Yeah. That's some scary shit right there. Anyway," he cleared his throat. "So, this guy being your first, I imagine he's very close to you."  
  
"Yeah, he is. The first time we made love, I made sure we were both in love. I don't do that kind of thing with just anyone."  
  
"So, you really love him?"  
  
"Yes." I lowered my head and smiled, the bad memories melting away as I imagined my boyfriend kissing me the way he usually does.  
  
"So why is he so bad for you?"  
  
The kissing scene in my head warped. "He's abusive."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"He let's little things get to him and then lashes out at everyone. He gets really scary when he's angry. Then when the people he hurts get angry with him, instead of feeling any kind of remorse, he gets even angrier. He keeps score on stupid things, like who goes to whose apartment more often, how much money he's spent on me, he makes me feel really bad about the money he spends on me..."  
  
Piccolo's face was a little more relaxed; he'd finally given that raised brow a break. "In your society, the male is usually supposed to provide for the female, right?"  
  
"Yeah. Things are starting to become more equal, but some double standards remain. Women like to feel taken care of cuz this world isn't very kind to us."  
  
The Namek nodded, "It's the same in my world. Women are so much weaker than men; naturally they have to be protected."  
  
I snorted, "We're not that much weaker, it's just most women don't like to bulk up on muscle or do strenuous exercises."  
  
Piccolo gave me a condescending smirk and I narrowed my eyes at him. "TA, women are weak."  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
"How strong are you, huh? You really look like warrior material." I didn't like his sarcastic tone one bit! Jerk!  
  
"As a matter of fact, I am! I've been training in the martial arts for over 8 years; karate, tae kwon do, and self-taught. I can knock an overweight middle-aged man over with one side-kick. And I'm a dancer." I crossed my arms across my chest and returned Piccolo's smart ass smirk.  
  
His smirk turned into the wicked grin I'd seen last night when Jay-chan was here. "I'll have to see these talents of yours, TA. You might just prove me wrong."  
  
"You can bet I will!"  
  
He lowered his head, suppressing a soft chuckle. He looked up at me once he'd regained his composure, "So why don't you stand up to your boyfriend like you do to me?"  
  
"Because I don't love you and your words can't cut me as deeply as his can." Yes, my first chance to prove to Piccolo that I'm not a psycho!  
  
I watched his eyes scan over my walls and that brow of his arched back up again. "Really?"  
  
"I swear. This is just a fan phase. Besides, you're nothing like the character I watch on Cartoon Network. You're more of an asshole."  
  
That brow ridge would not give up and it stayed glued to the center of his forehead, mocking me.  
  
"Anyway," I sighed. "Here's something that might be of interest to you. My parents don't know how intimate I've been with this guy; so they can't really understand why he hurts me so much. I don't want them to ever know how far I've gone with my guy because they'd kill me. They're still under the illusion that I'm still their little girl."  
  
"You don't live with them anymore."  
  
"I know."  
  
"So it's none of their business anyway."  
  
I smiled, "I'm glad someone else agrees with me. Jay-chan thinks they're nuts."  
  
"Jay-chan nuts."  
  
My eyes flew open and I began giggling uncontrollably.  
  
"TA?"  
  
I wiped at the tears forming in the corners of my eyes and tried to catch my breath, "Hee hee, sorry. I just didn't expect you to say something like that."  
  
"Whatever. Anything else I should know?"  
  
"That's all for now."  
  
He nodded his head. "Good. Then leave me alone so I can get started on this diary of yours."  
  
"Well, I have class in about an hour anyway, so I'll just grab my stuff and take an early bus." I walked over to my desk and gathered my texts and notebooks. I threw a couple pens and pencils into my backpack and then headed out the door.  
  
TiffyAngel's Shout Outs!  
  
DeathStorm – Thank you for reviewing continuously. Each chapter has a review from you and I wanted to thank you for taking the time to read and evaluate each chapter I write; your efforts are much appreciated. And of course, your input in my real life is just awesome!  
  
Jackie – Thank you for being the biggest influence in my real life and for suffering through my little ritual of reading my updates to you over the phone. Tradition is fun!  
  
Kim – I know I still have to read your fics! . But thanks for taking the time to read mine!  
  
Path Walker – Thanks for coming back to read my works. I thought everyone had forgotten about me cuz I've been such a bum lately! LOL!  
  
Bluewolfgirl – Thanks for adding me to your favorites; it's a real ego boost and makes me feel like a successful writer. I'm glad you're enjoying the plot.  
  
Cyndi – Thanks for being such an awesome and creative writer. Your works are really inspiring and don't let anyone tell you different. It's been so great getting to know you through DA comments and chapter reviews.  
  
Suiren – Thank you for coming back my humble abode. Your comments are much appreciated and I hope you continue to enjoy what I produce! 


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I'm the super updater! Yay! On another note, I would like to take the time to explain some things. I received a review that I would like to address. I'm sure everyone has his or her own view of Piccolo and his character. Some can't see him swearing and some can. I happen to be one who can see him with that kind of attitude. Just because I make Piccolo swear does not mean that the whole story is affected. It's pretty easy to get through Piccolo's dialogue, I think, especially since he and the boyfriend character are the only ones who really drop f-bombs.  
  
Next, while most women in America do have sex before marriage (which would make my earlier claim that a girl's first is usually her last wrong by statistical standards), people must understand the different niches others grow up in. I am the only one out of my group of friends who has had sex (And yes, this boyfriend figure was my first and it was very special for me at the time. ) but the norm in that group tends to be to wait until marriage. Even our respective families hold this view; so, this POV has stuck with me. Even though the statistics are there in my face, it's easier to associate with what you're used to.  
  
And again, I want everyone to know that although the boyfriend character in this story is still "my" boyfriend in this plot, we are, in reality, no longer together. In fact, a lot of facts in this story are pretty stretched. I am not a second year and I was only together with my boyfriend for about five months; this story implies that "I've" been together with him much longer to symbolize how I felt in those five months. Sometimes I felt like I had been with my boyfriend for years. And yes, I know he was a big ass; that's why the relationship ended.   
  
And now to the update!  
  
My boyfriend's apartment came into view. It loomed there in the darkness, the lights casting an eerie glow all around the complex. I wonder if Piccolo took off to see Jay-chan? I hope he's okay. Usually he yells at me for longer than that and that look on his face.  
  
I lowered my head. I gotta go back home. I can't see my man now; I've got Piccolo on my mind. With a sigh, I turned around and headed back to my apartment.  
  
I'll continue the story now. So, I managed to make it to class about an hour early. I walked into Hunt Hall and sat down on a stray table, pulling out the spiral notebook I kept my lecture notes in. I grabbed up a pen and began doodling to pass the time. Every single picture had some aspect of Piccolo in it. There were little pictures of him as a chibi figure, or me dressed in his fighter gi, or my boyfriend kicking my Piccolo plushy, he never did like Piccolo. Piccolo was most definitely the theme of my sketches and even lecture didn't deter me from my sudden artistic inspiration. By the time I got back from class and home again, six pages of my notebook were all doodles. What's wrong with me? I felt like giggling and my cheeks felt hot.  
  
I could barely insert the key into the keyhole, but I finally got inside. I pranced over to my bedroom door and knocked quietly.  
  
A gruff, "What?" came from behind the closed door. I pushed it open a little and peered inside, smiling at the green man in my chair.  
  
"Hello!"  
  
I received a weird look in return as I entered my room and threw my bag on my bed, following it within seconds. I sighed contentedly as I sank into the covers.  
  
"How's the reading going?"  
  
Piccolo looked at me for a moment before speaking, "Not that bad, but... what's up with this dialogue you have going in your earlier entries? I'll give you an example... This is from October 27th, 2002, entitled 'About Darn Time for an Update!!!':  
  
Piccolo: THROWS A MOCCASSIN AT TIFFY'S HEAD YOU GODDAMN IDIOT! WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU UPDATED THIS THING?!  
  
Gah! dodges flying moccasin I'm sorry! I tried updating last week but the computer deleted my entry... and I was too depressed to redo it... sniffs  
  
Piccolo: WELL I GUESS I SHOULD ASK HOW IB TURNED OUT..."  
  
I blushed profusely and buried my head in my pillow, "Oh that... That was just for entertainment. I did it to make my friends laugh, it had nothing to do with you personally."  
  
"M-hmm..." came his reply. I knew he wasn't buying it and probably thinks I'm a total psycho. Crap.  
  
"So when do you think you'll have this all read by?" was my feeble attempt to save face and keep the conversation going.  
  
"Probably a couple days."  
  
"That's good."  
  
"Yeah. Hey TA?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Could you shut-up so I can read?"  
  
I frowned, "Yes, I can." I leapt off my bed and stormed out into the living room to watch some TV. Stupid jerk.  
  
Whew. Sorry guys, I gotta take a break. It's freakin' freezing out here and I'm almost home! I started to jog, trying to keep the blood flowing in my legs and soon I was at the first stair leading to my apartment. There was a figure in the doorway, his pointed ears and mantle piece making it obvious as to who it was.  
  
"P-Piccolo?"  
  
"Yeah, I decided to come home. Where were you?"  
  
I looked away and began climbing the stairs to my door. "I was going to go see him. I didn't wanna be alone tonight."  
  
Piccolo moved out of my way so I could unlock the door. Once inside, I raced to my bedroom and burrowed under the covers, shivering uncontrollably. The Namek walked in after me and I heard a strange rustling before he placed something over me. I peeked my head out from under the covers and noticed that his cape was spread over me. I looked up at Piccolo. My eyes held a question I could not vocalize, but his held the answer.  
  
"I know it's a bit heavy. It's weighted to help me train and all... but it'll keep you warm. Although it's your fault for going out in this cold weather with a mini skirt and tank top on."  
  
I blushed as I realized how foolish I must have looked out there. No wonder I was so cold!  
  
"Thanks, Piccolo." I settled back down into the warming blankets as Piccolo pulled a chair up to the side of my bed. He straddled the chair backward and rested his arms across the back of it. He sat there for a while just looking at me. I could feel his eyes on me, scanning over the obscure lump that was my body underneath my five large blankets. Something about his presence was really comforting. I felt safe, safer than I ever felt with my boyfriend.  
  
"So... I've been here for about seven months now, TA. I really don't know why you're still with your boyfriend."  
  
I looked up at him and frowned.  
  
"All he seems to do is make you cry or make you really angry. Jay-chan tells me that all you seem to do is talk about him; it's like your own separate life is totally missing. I hate to admit it but the fact that you haven't updated any of your ridicules fan fics or drawn any fan art lately has me a little... well... worried."  
  
He's worried... about me?  
  
"All you really do is hang around your apartment until he calls or comes over. You do go to class, but not nearly as often. Whenever you go out with your friends, he's there taking up all of your time. So what is this guy's redeeming quality again? I'm having trouble seeing it myself."  
  
I sighed and rested my head in my hands, "I love him, Piccolo. I don't know why, but I do."  
  
"You don't know why? Are you even listening to yourself?"  
  
"How can you define love anyway?"  
  
Piccolo snorted, "The hell I know. But from what I've heard and read in you fan fics, love is supposed to make a person cry for a good reason. The pair is supposed to like certain things about each other. Things like... I dunno! Just things! Does this ass have any redeeming things in his personality or actions?"  
  
"He's nice... sometimes. He buys me things—"  
  
"And makes you feel bad about it."  
  
"He makes love with me and it's really special."  
  
Piccolo rolled his eyes, "That kind of act can be intimate with anyone if you know them well enough."  
  
"You have to be in love with them though... Well, that's what I think anyway."  
  
"Exactly! You can be in love with tons of other people!"  
  
I snarled, "No, I can't!"  
  
"Why not, TA?! You've got a lot to offer! Can't you see that?!" He stood up from his chair and stood there straddling it.  
  
I paused before firing another zinger at him. He thinks I have a lot to offer? Did he just give me a compliment? I decided to further the conversation. "I have a lot to offer? Like what?"  
  
"You've got a little knack for writing and your art isn't half bad... You dress well... You're nice to people... Dammit, TA! Just trust me!" A purple hue stained his cheeks and I felt my own begin to burn. He really thinks a lot of me, huh? Wow. I just stayed bundled up in my blankets, soaking in the old, familiar feeling of being appreciated. My God, how I'd forgotten how good it felt to feel like I matter to someone. 


	6. Chapter 6

The light from the sun was filtering in from the window above my head. I squinted against the blinding rays and pulled the curtains shut. Crap. I fell asleep? Hm... What time is it? I reached over and grasped the alarm clock on my desk.  
  
11:56AM... Jesus...  
  
I struggled to disentangle myself from the warm sheets surrounding me. Piccolo's cape was still there, but where was he? With another tug, I was finally free. I dragged my feet over to the bedroom door and swung it open. The sound of cloth snapping filled my ears and I looked up to see Piccolo pulling back from a fierce roundhouse kick.  
  
"Morning..." I mumbled as I stumbled into the kitchen, paying little mind to the Namek training in my living room.  
  
"Um... I'd call this the afternoon," came his sarcastic reply.  
  
"It's morning whenever I choose to get up."  
  
I thought I heard him mumble "lazy ass," but chose to ignore him and went about getting myself some cereal.  
  
So yeah, I was talking about Piccolo and me last night, wasn't I? Holy crap, I'm tired. Okay... Lesse...  
  
So Piccolo got through my online journal within three days. Very impressive. He didn't even give himself a reading break at night; he'd be in my room day in and day out and I somehow managed to learn how to sleep with the persistent glow of my computer screen. Very impressive indeed.  
  
When Piccolo was done with my journal, he spent the next few hours meditating in my living room. He sat in silence for what felt like an eternity before he announced his return to reality with a heavy sigh.  
  
I had been studying for my Science and Society 20 class, but put my materials away as soon as Piccolo opened his eyes.  
  
"So, what's up?"  
  
He stayed silent for a moment. "I've figured out your little problem."  
  
"And?" He's got my interest piqued.  
  
"You're dependent."  
  
Crap...  
  
"So," he continued, "the best way to fix this problem is to make you INdep-- "  
  
RING RING RING...  
  
Piccolo growled as the telephone's wail pierced through his speech and I went to answer it.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hey, it's me." It was my boyfriend. "Do you wanna go out for dinner tonight?"  
  
I grinned. "Dinner? Yeah, su--" I felt Piccolo jab me in the side with one of his pointy nails. I glared at him until I realized that he was shaking his head at me. He quickly scrawled a message on one of the pages of my Science and Society 20 notebook.  
  
It read: DON'T GO. YOU NEED TO TRAIN. SAY YOU'RE BUSY.  
  
I frowned. "Actually, I really need to study for SAS 20 tonight... Maybe tomorrow?"  
  
"...Okay..." Crap, he's probably mad at me.  
  
"I love you," was my attempt to appease him.  
  
"I love you too. Talk to ya later."  
  
I hung up the phone. Piccolo was giving me a dirty look. "What?"  
  
"You're pathetic."  
  
I growled low in my throat, "How so?" C'mon jerk, I dare ya!  
  
"Is a declaration of your love really necessary to pamper this guy's ego? Either he's really insecure and turning him down for dinner will send him into a fit of depression or you're afraid of confrontation."  
  
"I AM NOT!" I shouted.  
  
Piccolo smirked, his brow arched again. "Well, that answers my question."  
  
"SHUT-UP!"  
  
"Make me, TA," his smirk widened, "give me one good reason why I shouldn't tear your little imaginary world to pieces. You don't love this kid, if you did you'd accept every part of him, even the part that is capable of hurting you. It's all in how he fights with you; can you handle it? That's where the rub is, huh? He's a dirty fighter, isn't he? He's made you afraid of hurting his feelings because the punishment is far too great, right? You can't love him because you can't accept all of him and he doesn't love you because he doesn't care how badly he can hurt you---how badly he has already hurt you, making you dependent on his 'love.'"  
  
I stood there in shock. My fingers were as cold as ice. How could I possibly respond to that? How? ... When he was so right...  
  
"TA!"  
  
My spoon slipped past my fingers and clattered in my cereal bowl, splattering milk onto the table. Yikes! Well, there's my heart attack for the day! Please excuse the interruption.  
  
I leaned back in my chair and shouted, "What?"  
  
"Get your lazy ass in here!"  
  
Oh, what now? I got up from the table with an exhausted sigh and marched into the living room. I noticed that Piccolo had removed his turban and mantle piece and stood in the middle of the room, panting. I had to tear my eyes away from his heaving pectorals before a blush could give my thoughts away.  
  
"What?" I asked again.  
  
"Let's train."  
  
My eyes snapped open and I couldn't blink. He's not serious, right? I mean... he can't be freakin' SERIOUS!!! "T-Train? NOW?! Are you crazy?!" Piccolo stood stock still. "No way! I haven't trained in months!"  
  
We stood there trying to stare each other down for a few minutes before he finally opened his mouth to speak, "You haven't trained at all in the past few months?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes, really!" Geez, what crawled up his butt and died this morning?  
  
"You sure get a lot of exercise fucking your boyfriend."  
  
Before I knew what I was doing, I had Piccolo pinned up against the couch and my fists were pistoning into his chest like little jackhammers. I whipped my hand back and made his head spin with a sharp backhand to the side of his face. I stood up with a snarl and turned to walk back into my bedroom, with all the intentions of going right back to bed, but my weight shifted suddenly and I fell on top of the table in front of the couch. Ouch... Piccolo had a firm grip on my ankle and he was flashing that wicked grin again, blood trailing out of the corner of his mouth.  
  
"Never... turn your back... on your enemy, TA..."  
  
I tried to kick his hand away, but he twisted my ankle at an odd angle. Son of a bitch, that hurts!  
  
"PICCOLO!"  
  
"Hurts, huh?"  
  
"Stop it!"  
  
"Make me."  
  
I writhed on the table as he continued to twist. I could hear an odd popping sound coming from the bones beneath his ruthless fingers. That can't be good. God, what do I do? I gripped the edge of the table to steady myself and lunged at his face with my free foot, only to have that snatched up like the other.  
  
"Now that was really stupid, TA," he snorted and then began to twist that one as well.  
  
"Geez, what the heck?! Stop that!"  
  
The pain in my ankles was so intense that I was beginning to break out into a sweat. Stupid jerk! I slid across the table on my butt and was within an arm's reach of his face. That's when I started swinging my fists for dear life... or for my ankles anyway.  
  
There was a knock at the door and Piccolo took his eyes off of me for a split second. The sound of cartilage crunching echoed throughout the entire apartment, followed by the acidic curse words of a certain Namek. The pressure on my ankles disappeared immediately as Piccolo's hands flew to his nose.  
  
I scrambled off of the table and fell to the ground. I somehow managed to walk/crawl to the door and open it. Jay-chan beamed when she saw me, but her smile quickly faded when she took one look at me. Lemme guess, the hair's all fritzed out, I have blood on me from Piccolo's busted nose, my ankles are swollen to the size of grapefruits, what?  
  
Jay-chan ran past me and crouched down next to Piccolo, who was resting with his head between his knees. I'm feelin' the love...  
  
"Piccolo, are you okay?" Jay-chan was positively frantic.  
  
The demon lord raised his head to give me one good death glare before he mumbled, "Just training" to Jay-chan.  
  
"Whew! God, I thought you guys were killing each other in here. Getting along as usual, I see." She grinned.  
  
"Whatever," was my callous response. "He started it. Freakin' jerk with his freakin' mouth..." I limped toward my room and slammed the door.  
  
I heard Jay-chan sigh and was able to make out her muffled conversation with the jerk-off.  
  
"What did you do this time, Piccolo?"  
  
"I was trying to get her to train. She's lazy and has no life."  
  
"What got her to beat you like that?"  
  
There was a pause, where I'm sure Piccolo was glaring at Jay-chan. "No one beats me, she just got a little excited when I made a bad comment about her and her boyfriend."  
  
Jay-chan sighed again, "What did you say to her?!"  
  
"I told her she has no excuse not to train cuz she's obviously gotten some amount of exercise from fucking her boyfriend all the time."  
  
"ARG! PICCOLO, YOU IDIOT!" I heard her scream. "NO WONDER SHE BEAT THE HELL OUT OF YOU!!! YOU CAN'T SAY STUFF LIKE THAT TO HER!!"  
  
"NO ONE BEAT THE HELL OUT OF ME! I GOT DISTRACTED BECAUSE YOU HAD TO KNOCK ON THE FUCKING DOOR AT THE WRONG TIME!"  
  
"STOP YELLING, YOU JERK!"  
  
"I'M NOT YELLING!"  
  
I heard Jay-chan start giggling, "Right Piccolo. Look, you better tell her you're sorry cuz I know those kinds of words can really hurt her."  
  
"Whatever," he snorted.  
  
I heard feet padding over to my doorway and I buried myself in the covers on my bed.  
  
"Tiffy?" came Jay-chan's soft voice.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Piccolo wants to talk to you."  
  
I peeked out from under my comforters and glowered at the Namek in my doorway. "What do YOU want?" He stepped into my room, trying his best to keep a straight face with his crooked nose. "You should get that fixed."  
  
He snorted, "It'll be healed in a few hours. My immune system is a lot better than yours, human."  
  
Jay-chan elbowed Piccolo in the side and narrowed her eyes at him.  
  
He turned back to me with a sigh, "Your sexual business with your boyfriend is your business. Yeah, I'll stay out of the bedroom shit. So yeah..."  
  
Jay-chan hung her head in shame. "That's the lamest apology I've ever heard, Piccolo... but it'll do."  
  
"Good, now get the fuck out of my way; I'm gunna go train some more," he growled as he stomped out of the room.  
  
I rolled my eyes and curled back up in my covers.  
  
"He can be such a child sometimes," Jay-chan giggled.  
  
"You don't know the HALF of it; you don't have to live with him!" I snickered. "I feel kinda bad about his nose though..."  
  
Jay-chan smiled, "He'll be okay, but I sure wouldn't wanna be around in a few hours when he heals if I were you. Wanna go downtown?"  
  
I leapt out of bed with newfound energy, "Sure!" 


	7. Chapter 7

Jay-chan and I caught the bus just before it took off down the street. The bus stank of sweaty bodies and the ripped pleather chairs were anything but comfortable. I lucked out and grabbed the window seat before Jay-chan could protest.

"So," Jay-chan sighed, "What's up with you and your boyfriend?"

"Eh, I think things are okay. He came back last night and we made up."

Jay-chan was silent for a while, "I don't see why you keep taking him back. The things he does to you are horrible."

I snorted and looked out the window.

"Really, Tif," she persisted, "You've changed a lot since you've been with him; you're not the independent, take-no-crap-from-no-one girl I used to know. This guy walks all over you, takes you for granted, and hurts you so badly, but you're so quick to forgive him. Have you looked in the mirror lately? You looked depressed 24/7."

"I do not."

"Yes, you do, and I think you know it too. You just won't admit it."

I crossed my arms across my chest and continued to stare out the window. Jay-chan shifted in her seat and ran her fingers through her waist-long hair. "If you thought I was wrong, you'd be telling me about all of the wonderful things your man did last night to win you back or you'd be telling me why I'm supposedly wrong. Now you're just defensive, like you've got something or someone to hide."

"Dammit Jay-chan! Is this the freakin' Spanish Inquisition?!" My cheeks were burning and I could feel the blood pumping in my veins.

"What did he do last night, Tiffy?! Huh?! What did he do?! Did he write you a love letter? Did he make specific promises as what he'd do to change? Did he feel bad for leaving you behind? For hurting you? Did he apologize to you sincerely? Or did he just want you back cuz he can't stand the thought of being alone? Is the only reason you're still in his life because you make him happy? Does he even love you? Think about it, TA! Who was there for you last night, huh? Who really gave a hell about your feelings?"

Who? Piccolo? No way...

Jay-chan sighed and lowered her head and her voice, "Piccolo came to see me again last night, as I'm sure you know. He was really upset with something you said to him; of course, he didn't tell me anything. What did you say?"

"I dunno... Something about him only being pissed at me because now he has to stay in our world a little longer."

"That's not true."

I watched as my reflection's lips curled into a smirk, "Right."

"I think you really hurt him last night, Tiffy."

The smirk on my face died and I felt the guilt in the pit of my stomach begin to rise. "I guess I should tell him I'm sorry... He was really nice to me, even after that crap was said between us. He even complimented me."

"Really?" Jay-chan's eyes were as big as saucers.

"Yeah. He said I have a lot to offer."

"Wow, I'm impressed. Go Piccolo."

My eyes snapped open and I almost fell out of my seat. "What the heck?!"

"What? I just thought that was cool of Pic to do, that's all."

The bus came to a screeching halt downtown; Jay-chan and I hopped off and began walking around. We passed Borders and an idea came to mind.

"Hold up, Jay. I wanna get something for Piccolo." I raced into the bookstore and stopped in front of the large bookcases full of manga. "Dragon... ball... Z..." I muttered to myself as I scanned the contents of each shelf. Finally, I spotted the continuing series of "Dragonball" and "Dragonball Z." I grabbed up the latest volume from each series and flipped through the pages. The "Dragonball" volume I held had already introduced Piccolo's character as Demon Junior in the Tenkaichi Budoukia, where he had beaten the living crap out of Krillin, and the "Dragonball Z" volume featured the showdown of Piccolo and Cell. Excellent! He'll love these and maybe I can do a little inquisitioning of my own as well. Just how much of the actual TV series "Dragonball Z" is true?

I stood in line to be rung up and then headed out the door with my purchases. Jay-chan gave me a puzzled look. "Just got some manga for Piccolo."

"What the heck?!"

"Dragonball Z!"

Jay-chan burst out laughing, "That is gunna mess with his head so badly! I thought you were gunna be nice to him after last night and after breaking his nose!"

"I am! He'll like them; there's a lot of fighting and action in these volumes. Plus, I wanna know just how much of the manga and the TV series is true." I winked with a giggle.

"Let's go look at the pretty dresses at Savvy!" Jay-chan grabbed my wrist and dragged me off.

Jay-chan and I were perusing the unbelievably expensive selections at Savvy when something caught my eye. I looked out the window and a flash of light bouncing off of someone's watch blinded me momentarily. When I stopped blinking uncontrollably, I saw the backs of a tall, young man with spiky hair and a woman with short black hair disappear down a long alleyway. I frowned and ran over to Jay-chan.

"Hey, I think I just saw my boyfriend."

Jay-chan raised her eyebrow at me, "It's only noon, you think that boy is up at this hour?"

"Hm... I really thought I saw him... with another girl."

"You're either really paranoid and obsessive or he's doing us a big favor. Give him a call on his cell."

I fumbled with my purse until I pulled out my silver cell phone. Motorola. I scrolled down the long list of phone numbers I had stored in my address book until I found his. The phone rang for what seemed like hours before he finally picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sweetie, it's me."

"What's up?"

"Are you up?"

"I am now," I heard him chuckle softly. "I'm actually gunna go to the grocery store and pick up some shit. Stop by later, okay?"

"Alright. See ya!" I grinned.

"I love you."

I paused for a moment; ow, my stomach hurts, what's up with that? "I love you too!"

"Bye."

"Bye."

I threw my cell into the dark recesses of my purse and smiled at Jay-chan. "Guess I am paranoid and obsessive."

Jay-chan winked, "I told you!"

"So now what? Should we go back and check on Piccolo or was there somewhere else you wanted to go?"

"We should get Piccolo something that won't piss him off," she smirked, eyeing the bag of manga I was holding.

"What about a mocha?"

"Tiffy, you know Piccolo doesn't drink that kinda stuff!" Jay-chan squealed, near hysterics.

"It'd sure be funny to see him wired on caffeine or... we could get him drunk!"

"We could. Too bad we're, oh, I dunno... UNDER AGE!!!"

I squeezed my eyes shut, expecting to be beaten with a baka mallet.

"That doesn't matter anyway cuz I'm sure Piccolo knows what alcohol is; coffee, on the other hand, may be a totally different story," she grinned.

Within fifteen minutes, Jay-chan and I were back on the grimy bus, bag of manga in one hand and a mocha in the other.

The bus lurched forward, belching out ominous black clouds of soot, and began the slow trek home. Jay-chan and I raced up the steps to my apartment, when I remembered that I'd told my boyfriend I'd go and see him. "Hey Jay-chan, I'm gunna run over to see my man real quick, okay?"

She rolled her eyes, "Not while I'm here. I don't wanna have to entertain Piccolo while he bounces off the walls. You can see him later."

"Okay," I sighed and turned to the apartment door to let Jay-chan in.

Piccolo was sitting on the couch, looking out the window, and didn't even turn around to see who was coming inside.

"Hey Piccolo," Jay-chan bounced over to the couch and flicked his ear.

I heard him growl and intervened before things got messy. "Yo Piccolo, I got you something... It's kind of a consolation prize for losing our fight and a thank you gift cuz you were really there for me last night."

The demon lord eyed the bag and then glared at me, "Save the sentimental nonsense for your boyfriend. What's in the bag?"

"This!" I grinned as I pulled out the two volumes of "Dragonball" and "Dragonball Z" and handed them to him. I watched him eagerly as he flipped through the pages.

"Is this some kind of joke?" came his reply.

"What?"

"What is all this shit, TA?"

"Manga, you know, Japanese comic books." What's wrong with him?

"Who made this?"

"Akira Toriyama." Helloooo? I think Piccolo's losing his mind.

"Where is this fucker?"

My eyes grew wide, "Japan? I dunno. Hey, what's up, huh? I just spent $20 on manga and all you can say is 'shit' and 'fucker'?"

Piccolo turned to me, his eyes stone cold. "You don't understand, TA. Everything in these books is true."

I smiled, "Yeah, I was gunna ask you how accurate those things were."

"TA... You remember when I first met you and told you that I come from another dimension?"

"Yeah."

"The way I was able access your fanfics and fanart was due to the merging of our separate dimensions' Internet systems... I knew I had access to your dimension's crap, but I never really thought you guys had access to ours. This manga you've given me was made by someone who is possibly living in Japan, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I live in Japan in my dimension... and all of the stuff in this manga has already happened there. I've got a really bad feeling about this; our dimensions could be merging."

I fell on my ass. Hard. "Wait, you mean PHYSICALLY?!"

"Yes."

"What the hell does that mean?!" Jay-chan squeaked.

Piccolo sighed, "I don't know for sure yet, but my best guess is that the goings on in my realm could begin to happen here. And if I know my world like I think I do, it's a lot more dangerous there than it is here. The last thing your dimension needs is someone like Freeza or Cell showing up to take over your world."

"So, what the hell are we supposed to do now?" I sighed.

The Namek frowned, "I'm gunna have to go back to my realm and talk to the guardian of the Earth---"

"Dende-sama?" I beamed up at the tall warrior expecting a cookie or a pat on the head. Bad timing, I know...

He let out a heavy sigh, "You know about him too, I see. Shit. Well, in answer to your question, yes, I am going to go see Dende-sama. He should have some idea as what we can do to fix this mess."

A/N: Hey guys, I just wanted to thank all of you who have continued to read and/or review this story! I really appreciate the support; you guys are awesome! And, just for the accuracy of my story, the following events that will happen between TA and her boyfriend no longer reflect what really happened in my past relationship. Even the little bit of him in this chapter was fiction. So, from now on, any goings on between TA and her boyfriend are entirely fictional. Just so you know. Ja ne, minna-san!


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Wow! Long time no update, eh? Well, I decided to get past the angst in my life before returning to this story. My goal was to have to a clean, angst-free, mental slate when I came back to it and I have achieved said goal. The rest of this story is going to proceed in an entirely fictional manner. Enjoy.

Piccolo stood up from the couch and glanced at the mocha in my hand. "What's that for?"

My eyes grew wide and I hid the drink behind my back, "It's for me. Caffeine. It helps me wake up."

The Namek smirked, "You shouldn't sleep so much."

"Are you leaving now?" Jay-chan walked over to stand with us.

"The sooner the better," Piccolo frowned.

I stared at the floor, trying to hide my disappointment. "That's gotta suck. Saving the world 24/7 and all."

The demon lord gave me a strained look, "Well, it's a bit easier than trying to take it over."

All of us fell silent for a while before Piccolo spoke up again, "TA, I don't know how long this will take... so... take care of yourself while I'm away."

"I'll take care of her, Piccolo-san!" Jay-chan beamed and saluted him.

Piccolo's eyes never left mine and I felt my temperature start rise. "She knows what I'm talking about, Jay."

The Namek put his pointer and middle finger to his forehead and fazed out of my dimension within seconds. Jay-chan and I stood there, staring at the spot where Piccolo had just been.

"...That's so cool," Jay-chan whispered.

A high-pitched jingle pierced through the silence and Jay-chan made a mad dash for her purse. She took out her cell phone and greeted the person on the other line. It must be here dad.

"Right now?" she whined.

That doesn't sound good. Ah, the joys of living at home.

"Yeah fine. You suck!" She frowned and turned her cell off. "My dad wants me home to do chores. I hate living at home; I so should have moved out." She paused before continuing. "I hate to leave you like this, I don't wanna leave you all alone cuz I know you'll be lonely without Pic here."

I tried to hide my disappointment at Piccolo's sudden departure. "I don't need him around all the time. Don't worry about me."

Jay-chan gave me a hard look. "Well, in his absence, I'd like you to do me a favor."

"Sure."

"Don't go to your boyfriend until Piccolo gets back."

My eyes flew open. "What?!"

Jay-chan's face was creased with worry, "Just don't. At least when Piccolo is here he can help you in a sticky situation, but, now that he's gone, there's no telling what kind of damage this guy could cause."

I lowered my eyes to the floor again.

"Piccolo would really appreciate it," she added.

"...I know he would..."

"So do this one favor for him, okay? I'm sure it'd mean a lot more to him than some manga and a triple-shot mocha."

I looked up and saw Jay-chan smiling at me---a smile that said so much with minimal effort. I walked her to the door, my stomach twisting in knots. Now what? The door closed and I sat down, leaning against it for a while. I rested my head in my hands and sighed. To be honest, I do miss Piccolo and I'm disappointed that he had to leave so suddenly. Sure I was gunna wreak some havoc by giving him caffeine, but it would have been fun. Even when he's yelling at me, I can kinda believe that he's doing it cuz he wants to help me. Now there's no one here to help me, not even Jay-chan. How the hell can I help myself when I've been dependent on everyone for so long? How can I avoid disappointing everyone?

I don't even know what to do with myself right now...

Hm....

Well, I guess I could just sit here and continue talking about Piccolo's and my relationship. That'll help pass the time. I'll do that and, if my boyfriend calls, that's when I'll deal with canceling plans. This sudden turn of events has me feeling less than eager to do much of anything at the moment.

So yeah, that one day where Piccolo told me to skip dinner with my boyfriend was kinda awkward. I was mad at him, but, in a way, I kinda agreed with him; so, I stayed in my room reading fan fics until it was time for dinner. I walked out of my room in a long nightshirt and headed toward the kitchen to prepare some mac and cheese. I had just retrieved a pot from the lower shelf when I sensed a presence behind me. I wheeled around to see Piccolo staring at me.

"What now?" I asked, a bit uncomfortable with how close his body was to mine.

"You're not going out tonight are you?"

"I already told my boyfriend I would be studying for SAS20 so no." I brushed past him and began filling the pot with water.

"TA, I want you to know that this is going to help you in the long run. Honestly, how can you believe that you love someone when you're really just afraid of him?"

I set the pot on the stove burner and set the dial on high. I turned around with a heavy sigh. "Everything you said was right on, Piccolo...." my eyes were glued to the tiled floor, "I am afraid. I'm afraid of losing him. I tiptoe around him because I'm a coward. You, someone who's only known me personally for a few days, were able to see through all of the lies I tell to make everyone believe everything is okay. I can't argue with that. I can't..." I felt a drop of water splash past my cheek and started, surprised by the fact that I had tears streaming down my face. "Wha..."

Piccolo's eyes widened as I stood there pawing at the droplets that would not stop. "...TA?"

"I wish I knew for sure... I wish I knew if he really loved me or not. It's so hard to tell if someone you love really loves you back or if they're just using you, you know?" I tried to smile and another tear fell. "I mean, you can't just go up to them and say, 'Look, I love you so you better love me truly or stop the games right now and get outta my life!' That would be way too easy... So, how do you know for sure?" I stood there for a while and then shook my head. My eyes met Piccolo's and I winced, "I'm sorry, I probably shouldn't be asking you these kinds of questions... you probably have no idea what I'm talking about."

I turned back to the pot on the stove; the water was already beginning to bubble. I grabbed up a box of macaroni and tried to rip the top off. The cardboard crumpled beneath my fingers, making it near impossible to tear.

"Dammit..." I fought with the box until I felt someone's hand on my left wrist. I looked up into a pair of soft, obsidian eyes. Without a word, Piccolo took the macaroni box from me, tore the top off with one of his claws, poured the contents into the pot, and then left the kitchen.

I closed my mind off from the months old memory. That was the first time Piccolo openly showed his somewhat nice side to me... We've had a handful since then, but that one stands out in my mind the most. My eyes darted around the room. Nothing. No one. I really miss Piccolo. I hope he comes back soon.

BAM BAM BAM!

My heart leaped into my throat as the door behind me vibrated with the sudden pounding. I stood up and looked through the peephole. It was him. Crap. I thought he'd call at least. On a spur of the moment thought, I ran to my room and whipped the comforter off of my bed, wrapping myself in its warmth. I messed up my hair as best I could before opening the door.

"Hey...." was my drawn out, fake, lethargic greeting.

His eyes widened, "Whoa, what happened to you?"

"I don't feel so good."

One of his eyebrows arched, "You sounded fine just a half hour ago."

"Well..." I glanced around the room and found my mocha sweating on the table in front of the couch. I repositioned myself so that I was blocking his view of the table. "I had a mocha... and those usually don't sit well with me. You know me, even if something is totally bad for me, I keep doing it..." Oh wow, that was bad.

"Ah, I see. So, I'll give you a call later then, okay?"

"Yeah sure. Bye." I closed the door quickly and let out a sigh of relief. I have no idea how long I can keep that up for. I slumped to the ground in the mass of fluffiness and buried my head in my hands. I'm lying to my boyfriend now? Why? I thought everything was alright... I mean, I did do this for Jay-chan and Piccolo but... I could have easily been with him and then denied it later. No one would have had to know. Yet, what I did just now... felt more like it was for me. I really didn't want to see him just now. Actually, who I really wanna see is...

"TA?" a deep voice rumbled from somewhere to my left. My head shot up.

"Piccolo!!!" I screamed as I flew out of the covers around me.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: What the heck? I finished this, like, last Saturday and didn't post it. Oh well, I fixed some things up and like it a whole lot better!

Everything around me slowed as I raced toward the bewildered Namek in my living room. It was like one of those cheesy scenes in a chick flick. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and totally expected that he could too. It was abnormally loud. I could hear each step my feet took as they pounded into the carpet below. I felt the warmth of Piccolo's body as I wrapped my arms around him in an uncharacteristic display of affection.

"N-Nani?" Piccolo stumbled back and reality slammed on the gas. Life was back in motion. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing, TA?!"

My eyes snapped wide open. Oh. My. God. I'm hugging Piccolo.

A loud bang shook me out of my state of shock and I wheeled around to see my front door swinging back from where it had slammed into the opposite wall. I could feel Piccolo's muscles tense beneath my arms and I buried my face in Piccolo's shirtfront.

"Tiffy! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" I heard a voice shout from the doorway.

The Namek gripped the back of my shirt and peeled me off of his body. "That's what I wanna know," he snarled.

I looked up at Piccolo and watched his expression shift from annoyed-at-Tiffy to oh-holy-crap. That's when I realized who was standing in the threshold of my apartment. My boyfriend.

Fast as lightening, Piccolo raced over to the door, pulled my man in by the front of his shirt, and slammed the door. My boyfriend barely managed to keep his balance before Piccolo turned on him and shoved him over the couch.

"So," the demon lord started in a dark tone, "we meet at last."

I was staring at my boyfriend, praying that he would get the courage to look over at me and not piss all over my couch. I'm having the same kind of trouble over here on the carpet! Finally the boy's green eyes met mine.

"Wh-Who the? I thought that---What the hell is going on?!" my boyfriend's voice cracked and Piccolo's already wicked grin grew wider.

"That's, um, Piccolo," was my lame reply. Smooth one, Tiffy...

"I know who Piccolo is! I know he's Piccolo! But what is he doing here?! He's not real!" Uh oh... he's freaking out. This isn't gunna be pretty.

Piccolo leaned over the couch, glowering down at the male below him. My boyfriend scrambled off of the couch and crashed into the coffee table, his retreat coming to an abrupt stop.

"I didn't think I'd get a chance to meet you before I left this miserable plane." Piccolo's razor-sharp claws curled over the back of the couch. "Actually, I was hoping I wouldn't and now you're gunna wish that I hadn't as well."

The demon lord stalked around the couch and collared my boyfriend off of the floor. Before I could stop myself, I screamed.

Piccolo was on the ground in milliseconds, clutching his ears and writhing in pain. My boyfriend stood on his own two feet unscathed. I ran over to him and embraced him, the fear I'd been trying to suppress earlier coming out in random physical spasms.

"Tiffy, what is he doing here?"

I swallowed hard, "That is a really long story. Just trust me. Everything is gunna be okay."

I glanced down at Piccolo and could see pure hatred burning in his eyes, but he hadn't fully recovered yet. Taking my boyfriend's hand, I dragged him to the door.

"I'll call you tonight once everything is taken care of, okay?" I promised.

My bewildered boyfriend merely nodded his head and raced out the front door. I swung the deadbolt shut and moved to the side just in time to see Piccolo's fist crash through the wooden door. I gasped and spun around, coming face-to-face with the most frightening man I had ever seen.

"P-Piccolo?"

"You. Little. Bitch."

"Piccolo, please!"

"Piccolo nothing! You little bitch! You let him get away?! Do you have any idea how much trouble this is gunna cause for me?!" his words came out so forcefully that his breath blew the hair out of my face.

I felt my legs turning to mush.

"I have dimensions merging on my ass because I've been stuck here so long training you! And for what?! NOTHING! You haven't learned a damn thing since I got here! You've had so many chances, TA! So many chances to change your life! This could have been one of them, but you fucked it up! Just like you fuck everything up!"

I could feel the icy tears dripping from my eyes, but I kept my face stone cold. "Piccolo... What exactly were you going to do with him? You make it sound like you were gunna---"

"Kill him? Of course I was! How can I let him live now that he's seen me?"

My stomach turned. "You can't do that! You can't just take his life because he walked in on us!"

"Oh, so it's my fault that your obsessive, controlling boyfriend barged in on us; nosy little... And just what the fuck were you doing to me anyway?!" The veins on his neck stood out like vines, tight and thick and pulsing.

"I was giving you a hug..."

Piccolo withdrew his fist from the broken door, "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times. Save the sentimental nonsense for your boyfriend... or better yet, your EX-boyfriend!" He turned his back to me and walked over to the couch, his shoulders slumped over, weighed down by some unseen force.

I stood by the shattered door, shaking. Piccolo sat on the couch with his back to me. "Listen kid, I can't stay here any longer. My presence here has altered the natural state of your dimension... I'm not the one completely responsible; others like me have dimensioned hopped from our plane to yours, which is why this Akira Toriyama guy was able to access my world's information. However, my living here for the past several months has practically created a dimension bridge for the people of my world... If an enemy ever threatened my plane, it could easily make it over to yours."

"What are you saying?"

"I have to leave. Dende-sama and I are going to make a wish on the dragon balls that will destroy the bridge between our worlds. It'll keep your plane safe from harm."

My heart squeezed painfully in my chest.

"If I stay here any longer, I'll be putting you and everyone else in this world at risk."

"But I want you to stay." The words were out before I even realized that I had spoken them.

Piccolo turned around and looked at me, his eyes soft and pained. "I'm sorry, Tiffy, but this is a little more important that what you want right now. I apologize for not helping you get out of your relationship; you have no obligation to continue the story I asked of you. I guess your boyfriend can live; since I'll be gone you can always convince him that he was drunk or something... I dunno, it shouldn't be that hard to talk him out of what he just witnessed." A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

I balled my hands into fists. "When do you have to go back?"

"Tomorrow morning at the latest."

I lowered my head. "Then there's still time."

Piccolo's brow ridge rose slowly, "Time for what?"

"I can finish your story."

I heard him snort, any scrap of his previous kind attitude vanishing without a trace. "The deal was that I get my entire story once you get out of your relationship, baka."

"Exactly."

Piccolo had been yelling at me for about a half hour after I'd told him of my plans. I couldn't exactly blame him, it was kinda last minute and all... and I couldn't exactly tell him of my sudden inspiration to end a relationship that I'd come to know as my whole life. When it came right down to it, feeling so cold and hollow when Piccolo had left for Dende-sama's Tenkai really opened up my eyes. I wasn't happy. Not at all. That party last night... and the make-up... it was all so disappointing. Jay-chan was right... My man hadn't really done anything to win me back. There were no promises of change or love letters; nothing solid for me to place my faith on. Who had really been there for me last night? It had been Piccolo... In his own little way. I know he hates me. I know I disappoint him at every turn... but if I could make him happy... just once... even if it cost me everything I've come to know. I'd do it. I want Piccolo to be happy. He's had it much worse than I have in this mortal life and I owe him so much already. Piccolo, please stop yelling at me and just be happy.

"Piccolo!" I shouted suddenly, derailing my train of thought and causing the Namek to choke on his next zinger. "Just shut-up and say thank you!"

After he'd regained his composure, the demon lord glared at me, "This is foolish! It's never gunna work! You're just gunna get back together with him when I leave! He's never gunna believe you!"

Piccolo continued on with his little argument and I glanced at the clock. It was almost dinner time. I need a nap before I attempt this. I stretched out on my bed and shot Piccolo a dirty look, "Look, we're gunna do this at 9:00PM so just get over it and get ready!"

"It's not gunna work!"

"Piccolo? This is how much I care!" and I rolled over and fell asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Piccolo hovered some 50 feet in the air above my head as I approached my boyfriend's apartment. He wanted to make sure that nothing went wrong... or maybe he still wants to kill my boyfriend... Either way, here I am, right in front of my boyfriend's door, about to put an end to my relationship. Up until now, I've been denying how much this is gunna hurt, how empty I'm gunna feel when I lose not only my man, but Piccolo the very next morning... I have to deny it. I have to make myself numb to the pain or I'll break down this very moment and lose my chance. I can't miss this opportunity.

I knocked lightly on the door at first, unsure of myself and scared of how Piccolo would react to my plan of attack... There was no way I could tell him of what I planned to say to my boyfriend before we left my apartment... I think Pic would rather die than listen to the slander I'm gunna employ in my argument. With a sigh I raised my fist and knocked louder, forcing myself to be strong. A few seconds passed before my man answered the door.

His arms were around me before I even realized it.

"Oh my God!" he screamed, "You're still ALIVE!"

I tensed and slowly pulled myself away from him. "Of course I am."

His cheeks were flushed. "What the fuck is Piccolo doing here? I seriously thought he was fictional."

"No, he's not. In fact, he's been staying at my apartment for the past several months." I could feel Piccolo's rage explode above me in the form of a large ki expulsion. My innocent boyfriend thought it was getting windy.

"You wanna go inside? It's getting cold."

"No, I'm fine out here."

"Alright... Now, what do you mean Piccolo has been staying at your apartment?" His eyes were narrowing with suspicion. Excellent.

"Look. He and I were just friends when he first showed up---"

"What do you mean by 'He and I were just friends'?" My boyfriend began fidgeting with his fingers.

Perfect.

"Last night... when you came back to apologize... I'd just had sex with Piccolo."

I watched as my boyfriend's jaw fell to the floor and didn't dare look above me despite the ever present feeling I had that I was gunna be in unfathomable amounts trouble when I got home.

"Yeah," I continued, "We made love and I realized that I really don't love you. I mean, how could I? After all the pain you'd put me through that night, not to mention all those countless time before, I wanted revenge, but I also wanted someone to be there for me. Someone who really cares about me."

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" he screamed, the veins in his neck bulging with his mounting rage. "I FUCKING LOVE YOU!"

"No. No you don't."

"WHAT?!"

"You don't love me!" I snarled, satisfied and yet startled by the intense feeling I felt behind those words. "If you really loved me, you wouldn't make me cry every other day of my miserable life! If you really loved me, you wouldn't put your needs before my own all of the time! If you really loved me, you'd act like you did!"

"HOW DO I NOT ACT LIKE I LOVE YOU?!"

"All you ever want to do is fool around! Just last night, after you apologized, you wanted to come inside!---"

"MAYBE I SHOULD HAVE! MAYBE THEN I COULD HAVE BEATEN THAT LOSER'S FUCKING ASS!!!"

I snorted, "Like you could. But that's not the point, the point is that you're a selfish, arrogant, superficial prick, whose only interest is in the physical and sexual aspects of this sorry excuse of a relationship and I'm sick of it!"

"WELL, MAYBE I'M SICK OF YOU!"

"Good! Be sick of me! Do me that one favor! Be selfish again and make this all about you cuz now it can be! I cheated on you! I don't like you at all! I've found someone to replace you with!" My stomach clenched as I finished my speech, all of my energy draining, leaving me exhausted and yet feeling justified.

My boyfriend made a sudden move forward and I felt myself fall into an instinctive fighter's stance when a flash of white appeared before my eyes. Piccolo was standing between my now ex-boyfriend and I.

"Stand down," he snarled.

"Piccolo!" I shrieked. What the hell is he doing?! He's gunna mess this whole thing up for me! I knew he was mad, but doesn't going home mean more to him than his freaking ego?!

"You fucked my girl..." my ex growled.

"Well, it's your loss, buddy. You should have treated her better," Piccolo purred with cool causality. "Besides, she ended things with you when you first showed up so... technically she wasn't your girl when I fucked her."

Oh my God! He's going along with it! Wow... I can't believe that Piccolo just said that!

"TREATED HER BETTER? I TREATED HER PERFECT!"

"Bullshit!" Piccolo spat. "Now you listen to me. You stay away from her and away from us because this kid belongs to me now. If I ever see you anywhere near her, I won't hesitate to end your life in a way that I can only describe as 'conveniently accidental' so that the cops won't even give you a second look."

My ex took a step backward, his eyes shifting from me to Piccolo and back again.

"You can forget telling anyone about me, by the way. Who'd believe that a fictional character from a poorly dubbed anime series took your ex-girlfriend from you? Hah. That'd be amusing to hear," Piccolo stepped back and stood next to me. In a second, he'd snaked his arm around my waist and pulled me against his side. I couldn't stop the blush that streaked across my face, but maybe that would just add to the effect of this whole drama? ... Oh my God, Piccolo's holding me! ... Okay. Gotta pay attention. "You will leave us alone. Got it?"

My ex looked a little pale as he nodded hesitantly.

"Good," Piccolo purred.

With one swift motion, he scooped me into his arms and blasted off of my ex's stoop, blowing him back into his doorway. I looked down at the quickly shrinking town below and had to stop myself from screaming. The only thing worse than great heights is falling from them, right?

The wind whipped my hair across my face and I barely managed to squeak out, "Where are we going?" before getting a mouthful of the strands.

"Jay-chan's place."

That's all he said to me for the rest of the flight...


	11. Chapter 11

Piccolo hovered in front of Jay-chan's window with me wrapped around his neck, terrified. The demon lord pounded on the glass. Jay-chan's face appeared behind the curtains and her eyes nearly shot out of her head when she saw us; her window was open within seconds and Piccolo and I crawled into her room.

"Oh my God, you guys!" she whispered, so as not to alert her family, "What are you doing here?"

"TA is gunna stay here for awhile for safety measures. I don't trust her ex and I don't want anything bad to happen to this kid since I won't be here to keep her sorry ass out of trouble anymore," Piccolo replied coolly.

"Wait... EX?!" Jay-chan choked.

"Yeah. TA finally broke up with that idiot boyfriend of hers," Piccolo snorted.

"HOW?!" she nearly shrieked.

"Um... Don't ask," Piccolo replied, shifting uncomfortably. "Anyway, I got back from the Tenkai a few hours ago..."

Jay-chan frowned, "How'd that go?"

"Not good. I've practically made a dimension bridge between our worlds..."

My eyes went out of focus as I watched Jay-chan and Piccolo converse in their casual manner. Things always went over smoother between those two. He really respects her; he doesn't interrupt her when she talks, he rarely swears at her, and you can tell he's really listening to what she has to say. I really envy that...

They've been really close since the first week that Piccolo was here in my world; honestly, it doesn't take much time for someone to warm up to Jay-chan and Piccolo was no exception. My best guess is that they got really close cuz of a pretty bad incident that had occurred one night, a few months ago...

I had invited my boyfriend over for dinner. Piccolo had stormed off earlier that evening because I'd done something to piss him off as usual. Well, things started getting a little hot and heavy between my boyfriend and I and we decided to take things into the bedroom.

I swear, I thought that Piccolo would be gone for at least a few hours... I had no idea what a mess I'd be making...

My boyfriend and I hadn't been making much noise, I mean, the walls in my apartment are paper-thin... but Piccolo's hearing is way keener than mine. In the heat of the moment, I looked up and noticed that my bedroom door was open and I know I'd closed it beforehand. I felt a wave of ice wash over my body and I stopped moving. My boyfriend looked at me like something was wrong... If only he knew... I told him I didn't feel very well; I blamed my inability to perform on my horrible cramps. He'd gotten up and dressed, telling me that he'd give me a call in an hour or so to see how I was feeling. I wrapped a bed sheet around my slender body and walked him to the door to see him off. A kiss goodbye and I was alone in my apartment. Well... not entirely alone...

"TA?" Piccolo's voice had floated in from the hallway.

I turned in the direction of his voice, feeling rather awkward in my bed sheet. "Hey."

"You... You were... What the hell were you just doing?" his eyes were unfocused and traveled up and down my body as if the answer to his question were printed on my sheets.

"I was making love with my boyfriend."

He sighed heavily, annoyance practically stamped across his forehead in big, green, bold letters, "Getting you to break up with this asshole is gunna take forever, isn't it?"

"Um..."

"I don't wanna stay here tonight. Where the hell does your insane friend live?" he rolled his eyes at the mention of my best friend's name.

"Jay-chan?"

"Do you have any other friends?" he snorted and gave me a dirty look.

"You jerk! As a matter of fact---"

"I don't give a shit about matters of fact, just tell me where the hell Jay-chan lives! NOW!"

"Off of 3rd and I Street. Her house number is 52555..."

Without another word, he stormed out of my apartment and left me alone for the night. I felt horrible and could barely hold a conversation with my boyfriend when he called an hour later like he'd promised. I'd gone to bed that night feeling just as guilty and horrible and strangely jealous of Jay-chan. You can imagine that my jealousy increased ten fold when Jay-chan called me then next day raving about how she and Piccolo had formed some sort of pact to get along and work together to help me break up with my boyfriend... And that was the first of their many pow-wows about yours truly.

My eyes came back into focus and I watched silently as Jay-chan and Piccolo continued to make arrangements for me to stay at Jay-chan's house until whenever Piccolo deemed my apartment safe again.

"So Tif, you're cool with staying here for awhile, right?" Jay-chan's eyes suddenly turned on me.

"Yeah."

She walked up to me, her eyes suddenly a darker shade of brown than they'd been a moment ago, "Hey, are you feeling alright? You just dumped that ass... Are you okay? Can I get you anything?"

"I'll be fine," I lied, forcing myself to remain numb. I'll be able to let my guard down in time, but now is not the time.

Piccolo looked at me, but I turned my eyes to the floor. "Hey guys, I know it's not that late and all, but I'm really tired... Mind if I crash for the night?"

Jay-chan and Piccolo exchanged knowing glances and I ignored them.

"Sure," said Jay-chan as she pulled the covers back from her headboard. "You can take the bottom bunk and I'll take the top bunk."

I crawled into bed and slipped silently between the sheets.

"Piccolo, I'll work on your story, even after you leave tomorrow so no worries." I pulled the covers up around me and stared up at the top bunk.

Jay-chan gathered her PJs and headed to the bathroom to get ready for bed, turning the lights out on her way out the door. I rolled over to face the wall and away from Piccolo.

A few moments of silence passed and I slowly let the tears fall from my eyes. I forced my breath to come out evenly as I felt the wet droplets trickle over the bridge of my nose and into Jay-chan's pillow.

Suddenly someone's hand was on my shoulder and I wheeled around in fright.

"TA?"

"Piccolo?"

"Kid... Are you crying?"

"No," I lied.

I jerked back when I felt one of his fingers brush against my cheek.

"You're full of shit, you know that?" he snorted, wiping his finger on his pants.

"Piccolo... You can't really blame me, can you?" I stifled a sob. I couldn't let myself lose it completely...

"No," he sighed, "I guess not."

We were both silent for a while before he spoke again. "Why did you break-up with your boyfriend, TA?"

I wiped at my eyes with the back of my hand, "Because you were right. I've had so many chances to change my life and---"

"TA, I know that that's not the real reason why you called things off."

I choked. "Why are you asking me that?"

"Because," he stated coolly, "I think that what you're going through right now is my fault..."

I glared at him in the dark, "You're an arrogant prick!---"

"TA, I mean it!" His voice sounded so sincere and I felt myself being drawn to him, drawn closer to telling him the truth. But I can't... I can't do that. This whole time he's been here, I've been trying to convince him that I'm not crazy, that I'm a respectable maybe even worthwhile person... If I told him the real reason I broke up with my boyfriend, we'd be right where we started when he first came to my world.

"You really think this is about you? You WOULD think that!" I growled.

Piccolo lunged forward suddenly, pinning me to the bed, both of my hands held down on either side of me. The demon was breathing in my face, his chest nearly crushing my upper body under his weight.

"Stop being such a bitch, TA!"

I snapped. "God dammit, Piccolo! I did it for you! I wanted you to be happy!"

Piccolo pulled away, shocked, but his hands still held fast to my wrists. "You did it for me?"

"Yes."

"Why? Why would you put yourself through so much pain just for me?"

I smiled, "You're so dense."

"What the fuck?"

The lights came on suddenly and we both blinked rapidly as we turned toward the doorway.

"Oh my God, you guys! You don't waste any time, do you?" Jay-chan winked.

Piccolo flew to his feet and stomped toward her, "Just what the fuck are you implying, Jay-chan?!"

"Nothing, Piccolo, nothing at all..." she brushed past him and started heading up the ladder to the top bunk. "Just that you're quite the Casanova... although I'd save the S&M tricks for a little later."

The demon lord turned bright purple. "I'M GUNNA FUCKING KILL YOU!"

Jay-chan pulled the covers up around her, "No you're not so just shut up already."

Piccolo snorted, clenching his fists at his sides, "Well, thanks for interrupting my conversation with TA; she was just about to tell me why she called things off with her boyfriend, but, no, YOU had to show up and start acting like a fucking pervert!" He growled and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Whatever, Piccolo. Now, turn off the light." I heard Jay-chan settle herself in bed above me and glanced over at Piccolo, who was walking over to the switch, muttering under his breath. The Namek's footsteps got closer and closer to my bed as I lay there among the sheets. I could hear the rustling of his cape and the creaking of the floorboards as the large man settled himself on the carpet beside me.

"So, kid... You were saying?"

I swallowed the lump that had been forming in my throat. "Like I told you before, I called things off cuz I wanted to make you happy. You've done so much for me in these past few months and I'd hate to see you walk away empty handed. And you don't have to feel bad... I've recognized that this pain I'm feeling isn't me missing my ex... I just feel really foolish for letting him get away with some of the things he did."

"Well, you know better now," Piccolo's voice took on a whimsical tone. "That's the way life is sometimes. You make mistakes, you suffer, you learn. As long as you don't repeat your folly, you shouldn't feel too foolish."

I smiled to myself and curled closer to Piccolo.

"So, you wanted to make me happy?"

"Yeah," I smirked, "You're so uptight and angry all the time."

"Well why don't you check out the company I keep?" he snorted, but I could tell he was suppressing a smile. "No one's ever suffered for me before..."

"It's not really suffering. It makes me feel a lot better that this pain was done for another. I feel more justified."

There was a long pause and I continued. "I'm really gunna miss you, Piccolo."

He snorted again, "You're not gunna get all sentimental on me now, are you?"

"Would you kill me if I did?"

He didn't answer.

"Honestly Piccolo, you've changed me... for the better. I'm a good person because of what you've done for me. I have self respect and my self-esteem isn't all that bad."

The demon lord was silent.

"I like who I've become and I have you to thank for that. You really aren't as bad ass you try to make people believe. I'd even go so far as to say that you kinda, sorta care about people. You're a good person deep down."

Piccolo cleared his throat, "You really see all that?"

"Of course I do. That and a whole lot more."

"You and Gohan would really get along, kid."

I smiled.

I watched the black shadow that was his body in the dark slouch, "Why are you being so nice to me anyway? All of this training was all based on a motive. My story."

"I care about you. A lot."

Piccolo's head raised.

"Oh gimme a freakin' break!" I heard Jay-chan sit up in bed. "If this conversation gets any sappier I'm gunna have to give myself a shot of insulin! You two are so stupid! Piccolo, you're not leaving tomorrow, you're gunna stay here and be with Tiffy and Tiffy is gunna be a happy, little fangirl for the rest of her life. End of story."

"What the hell are you talking about, Jay-chan?" Piccolo growled. "I have to leave or I'll be stuck in this dimension forever. When the bridge is wished away, there will be no way for me to go back to my world."

"So? What's so wrong with being here? Your world really sucks, Piccolo, all you do is fight bad guys and get the crap kicked out of you if you're not killed off in, like, the first five seconds of the battle."

"EXCUSE ME?!" the demon lord flew to his feet.

"You know it's true. What kinda life is that anyway? And you never get any chicks. What are you gunna do when Gohan gets married and has kids?"

I lay in bed, trying my best to keep quiet. I'm not here. I'm not here.

"I'm really sick of keeping mum when I feel like screaming at you guys all the time," Jay-chan continued.

"What do you wanna scream at us, huh, Jay-chan?" Piccolo was being a sarcastic ass again.

"That you two would be really good together! You stupid, moronic idiot! In case you couldn't tell, Tiffy feels more for you than you could ever know... but you're too stupid to realize that! Well, now you know! Tiffy likes you, she's always liked you, and it's not just some fangirl obsession, so you can just shut your mouth up because I KNOW you're going to come at me with that stupid response. Save it. Sorry Tiffy, but someone had to tell that moron..."

I could feel the sweat trickling down the back of my neck. I want to die. Right now. Please? God? Hello?

Piccolo and I listened as Jay-chan took a deep breath, "Now I'M tired... So why don't you do us all a favor Piccolo and just kiss Tiffy and be done with this little game?"

My eyes nearly shot out of my head and I heard Piccolo take a step back. Of course Jay-chan was just cracking one of her infamously perverted jokes but... why does it suddenly feel so awkward between Piccolo and I?


	12. Chapter 12

Piccolo sat back down with a huff and I could feel his eyes on me. What the hell do I do now?! Feign sleep! Yes, that's what I'll do! And we are feigning in 3... 2...

"TA?"

"Yeah?" Shit... So much for feigning sleep...

"You know I can't stay here."

I sighed, "I know."

"Besides... I'm not what you're looking for..."

There was a dull thud and Piccolo cursed. What the heck?

"Fuck you, Jay-chan!" the demon lord snarled. "Don't throw your fucking stuffed crap animals at me!"

"You deserve it. Someone as stupid as you deserves to have rocks thrown at him, so consider yourself lucky, punk."

Don't even ask me where she gets her courage. Yeesh.

"I'M NOT STAYING, PERIOD! I'M GOING HOME AND I'LL NEVER HAVE TO SEE EITHER OF YOU IDIOTS EVER AGAIN!" Piccolo stormed out of the room.

I sighed and settled deep into the blankets around me. Jay-chan was silent for all of three seconds.

"What are you still doing here, Tiffy?!"

"Wha?"

"Go after him! He's alone downstairs..."

Realization suddenly dawned on me. "Oh my God, you little schemer!"

"You'll be worshiping me as your god and savior if you'll only get your butt downstairs."

I scrambled out of bed and made my way down the stairs leading to Jay-chan's living room. Sure enough, the large silhouette of a certain Namek could easily be made out in the dark.

"Hey Piccolo..." I whispered, feeling my way to the nearest place to sit. Piccolo's hands closed over mine and drew me near the longer of the two couches.

"You have really poor night vision, you know."

"Yeah yeah yeah..." My skin tingled even after he'd pulled his hands away from mine. "Sorry about Jay-chan... I think she's just upset that you're leaving so soon..."

"Yeah..."

I continued, "I mean, you guys are such good friends and I know she really cares about those she considers her pals; so, it's totally understandable that she'd give you a hard time for leaving all of a sudden..."

"Yeah..."

"So don't take anything she says too seriously. She's just bitter. I'm sure she'll be cool in the morning and then we'll all say our good-byes and you can go home. Plus, I still have that story to write for you! A promise is a promise, you know!" I gave him my best fake smile.

"Yeah..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"TA..." Piccolo took a deep breath. "Do you have feelings for me?"

I twisted my fingers into a fleshy knot. "What do you mean by feelings?"

"Like, I dunno... Dammit... Just how deeply do you feel for me anyway? Jay-chan makes it sound like some huge deal."

I lowered my head. "Yeah, she does... but... that's because it kinda is... I've already told you that I care about you, Piccolo, but maybe I wasn't all that clear... I care about you so much that I'd end a relationship with someone I've known for twice the amount of time that I've known you. I'd do even more than that if you ever asked me to. I'd go to your world and help beat up bad guys even!" I grinned in the blackness.

I heard Piccolo chuckle, "Help beat up the bad guys in my world? So then I guess that entails you dying for me, huh?"

"Hey! Who says I'd die?" I pouted. "I remember giving your nose quite the beating not so long ago!"

"... Well, there's always the dragon balls..." he continued to mock me.

"HEY!"

Piccolo chuckled, "Kidding..."

There was a pause and I continued. "But seriously, I really wish you'd stay here, Piccolo. I'd feel better knowing you were safe and maybe even happy. I know you love Gohan as though he were your own flesh and blood, but Jay-chan does have a point... What's gunna happen when he gets married? And who knows, maybe he could visit you here by wishing on the dragon balls! Or maybe Goku will come up with a way to dimension hop without creating a bridge thingy!---"

"You really want me to stay that badly, kid?"

"...Yeah... I do. I think we could learn to get along... and..." I scooted closer to him and noticed that he didn't move away. "I'd do my best to please you. I won't tell anyone about you, if you'd prefer to live in this world secretly..." I leaned over and wrapped my arms around his torso, burying my face into his shirtfront. His muscles stiffened against my cheek. "It's safer here. You'd be happy and isn't that what Gohan has wanted for you ever since you first met him? Honestly, have you ever been happy, Piccolo?" I drew my body closer to his, gazing up into his face even though the shadows of the night hid his expression from me.

"I'm not sure if I can even experience happiness... My father---"

I placed a hand over his mouth, my face only inches from his. "I know about your father, Piccolo. I know what he did to you. But all evidence proves that you aren't a carbon copy of him. You've had different experiences from his. I mean, did your father ever smile in a way that wasn't evil in some form or another?"

I barely caught a glimpse of the corner of Piccolo's mouth tugging upward, "No."

"See!" I poked the left corner of his mouth. "You can smile! You can be happy!"

"TA, don't touch my face." I felt him try to pull away and I straddled his lap, grasping his face with both of my hands.

"Tough, I'm gunna show you that you are capable of being happy!" I jammed both of my pointer fingers into the insides of the demon's mouth and yanked them upward. I grinned at him. "See! Now that's a smile! Don't you feel happy?"

"Ah feel lak an idiot... Wha da fuck ah you doin' to ma face?"

I fell off of him and curled into a ball on the floor, laughing.

"I see that amuses you. Well, see how YOU like it!" I heard him growl playfully and, before I could scramble away, the Namek had thrown himself on top of me, pinning me beneath his massive body. I thrashed my head from side to side, as his hands neared my face.

"You're gunna gouge my gums with those claws of yours! Don't touch me! I'll scream 'rape'!"

"Go ahead and try!" Piccolo chuckled before jamming his fingers into my mouth and pulling my lips in opposite directions.

I tried to glare at him but failed as I imagined that I looked anything but threatening at that point.

"I thought you were gunna scream. What's wrong, TA?" he teased.

"....wape...."

I heard him chuckling softly.

"Yo hutting ma face..."

Piccolo pulled his fingers away. "Sorry..." he muttered sheepishly.

I felt his weight shift on top of me as he prepared to get up. My right hand shot forward suddenly when he transferred his weight to his right side. He froze when my fingers touched the cool skin on his face. Almost involuntarily, my fingers grasped at the flesh of his cheek and drew him nearer to me. His jaw clenched and unclenched as his face came closer to mine. I could feel the thick cords in his neck strain as he slowly surrendered to my silent command. What I was commanding him to do exactly was beyond me, my body had taken total control and I was the fascinated witness to its power over the man above me. My hand loosened its grip once I could feel Piccolo's warm, moist breath on my face. I heard him swallow.

"TA... You don't want to do this..."

I raised my head and pressed my lips to his, effectively silencing him. A searing heat washed over my entire body; I heard him gasp and felt him pull away, but then he stopped. Our lips were mere millimeters apart, our breath coming out in unison. Hot and heavy. I pressed forward again, massaging his lips with my own. A low rumble resounded in the depths of Piccolo's throat and I wrapped my arms around his thick neck.

Piccolo's arm slipped under my back and reached around to cup the back of my head, holding me against his mouth. The trance wore off and I felt him respond ever so slightly, his lips pressing against mine every so often.

Piccolo shifted his weight to his other arm, leaning on it so that he wasn't crushing my body. My hand traveled from his face to his long, tapered ear and traced a nail along its length. The demon hissed and pulled away from our kiss.

"Are you okay, Pic?" Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Yeah," he breathed heavily, quickly scrambling off of my body and sitting himself back down on the couch. Dammit. Dammit. Dammit.

I waited a few moments before getting up and walking over to him. "I'm sorry... I never meant to upset---"

"No, that's not it, TA. That's not it at all. I... I'm just not... well... I've never done that before... so..." I heard him snort, apparently annoyed with himself.

I sat down next to him. "That's okay. If you don't mind me saying so... you're not bad for a first timer."

I heard him chuckle. "Right..."

A yawn escaped my mouth. "Whew... Sorry. Mind if I use you as a pillow, Piccolo?"

He was silent for a moment. "Sure, but the minute Jay-chan wakes up, you're on the floor, got it?"

I smiled as I settled my head in his lap. "No prob."


	13. Chapter 13

I felt a light tapping on my shoulder and shifted in my sleep, snuggling deeper into the depths of Piccolo's lap. Too tired... Too comfortable...

TAP TAP TAP

God dammit...

TAP TAP TAP

I opened one eye and saw Jay-chan looming above me smirking. The sunlight caught my eye and I moaned. Not morning. Anything but morning. Well... anything but THIS morning. I glanced over at Jay-chan again and snickered when I saw her giving me a thumbs up.

Piccolo stirred and I buried my face in his lap, pretending to be asleep. I was on the floor within seconds.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, TA?" Piccolo gave me a meaningful look but I was too tired to catch on.

"You said I could sleep on you last night..."

"WHAT THE FUCK?! I NEVER SAID THAT!" His eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched.

"Yeah you did... You said that after we---"

"Piccolo," Jay-chan sighed, "You can stop trying so hard. You think I didn't notice that Tiffy never came back upstairs last night?"

The demon lord lowered his fists. "I have to go."

Jay-chan was staring at the floor, "You shouldn't leave."

Piccolo continued on like she hadn't said a word, "TA, we have to go back to your place. I told Dende to meet me there when everything is all set up and ready to make the wish."

I lowered my head as well, "Okay..."

The Namek came over and scooped me into his arms. He was almost to the door when Jay-chan stopped us. "Take me too. I wanna see you off..."

"I thought you were mad at me," Piccolo replied.

"I still am, but I can hate you later... Right now, I wanna see you off and be there when you leave Tiffy all by herself."

"Thanks..." Piccolo snorted, his brows drawn low over his eyes. He opened the front door and then cast a glance over his shoulder, "You coming or what?"

Jay-chan pranced over to us and Piccolo transferred me to his left arm, holding me like he would a sac of potatoes. Grabbing up my best friend in his other arm, the demon lord took to the skies.

No words were exchanged during the flight. You thought it was bad when I had hair flying in my face, you should have seen Jay-chan! She looked like a living, breathing Cousin It!

When we got to my apartment, I took my time finding my keys and opening the door. I could already tell Dende-sama was waiting for us... Sure enough, the younger Namek was in my living room.

"Good to see you again, Piccolo-san!" the youthful Namek approached Pic with outstretched arms, but the older Namek brushed right past him.

"Lets get this over with..." he mumbled.

Dende-sama gave us a sympathetic smile, "My name is Dende, the guardian of the Earth, but I guess you two already know that."

We shook hands with the teenaged Piccolo look-alike before he turned to the demon sitting on my couch. "Goku and Gohan have the dragon balls ready. They're gunna summon Shen Ron and then we have to leave. The bridge will close behind us, effectively protecting this world and ours."

Piccolo was gnawing on his lower lip. Is he okay? He made us leave so suddenly... I never got a chance to talk to him about last night.

"Piccolo-san?" Dende's smile was faltering. "Are you ready?"

"Of course I am!" he snapped. "Don't ask foolish questions!"

Jay-chan marched forward suddenly. Piccolo didn't even bother to look up at her. "Piccolo!"

The Namek lifted his head only to meet her open palm. The loud smack of skin on skin echoed throughout my apartment and Dende-sama jumped back. "Oh my!"

Jay-chan snarled, her face menacing, despite the single tear that was trickling down her cheek. "How can you just leave her like that?! You bastard! How?! My God, you have some nerve! So you get what you want from Tiffy the night before you leave and you're done?"

Dende-sama whirled around and gave me an astonished look. I just stood there with my eyes stuck wide open, the blush on my cheeks nearly burning through my skin.

"You weren't supposed to see that," Piccolo answered back.

"Do you WANT me to hit you again?! I wasn't supposed to see what, Piccolo, that you actually care about Tiffy? What's so wrong with that?---"

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT TA!"

Um... Wow... I really don't wanna be here right now... My stomach clenched up and I squeezed my eyes shut.

"You're such a jerk!" Jay-chan screamed. "I really thought you might be different from all the other bad guys out there, but I guess I was wrong! You're, like, King of the Assholes!"

"I. Have. To. GO, Jay-chan! You wanna shut the fuck up already? I gave her fair warning last night. I told her not to mess with me; she brought this on herself. She's almost 20 years old; she's old enough to make her own decisions. If she didn't want to get hurt, she should have backed the fuck off!"

I felt Dende-sama wrap his arm around my back, giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze. I shuddered, the tears falling beyond my control. I'm sick. I feel so sick. I'm gunna throw up... I fell for it again. I gave myself to someone horrible again. I'm diseased. What's wrong with me? Oh God... My heart feels like it's tearing in two... I never meant for this to happen. Never. I'm so STUPID!

"I hate you!" Jay-chan cried. "You're the biggest jerk I've ever met! You're worse than her ex! You have no heart at all! Tiffy was wrong about you! I was wrong about you! You don't deserve someone as caring as Tiffy... and you'll live to regret what you've done here for the rest of your life!"

"Jay-chan," I choked on a sob. "Leave him alone. He's right, I should have known better... I've known this whole time that he doesn't feel for me the way I feel for him... but I... I wanted to be with him... even just once... It was my fault."

I looked up at Piccolo, seeing his image distorted and blurry through my tears. His expression was unreadable. He let out an enormous sigh.

"Why the hell can't you hate me, TA? Why can't you make this any easier?---"

"Piccolo-san! The sky! It's turning black! We have to go now!" Dende-sama shouted from his place beside me.

Piccolo's eyes never left mine. "This could have been so much easier, TA... Why did you have to screw around with things? Why did you have to cause yourself more pain?"

"What about you?!" I screamed. "Stop worrying about me and start worrying about yourself! What do you feel? Am I the only one suffering here or could you possibly feel the same?!"

My room shifted and the floor began to rumble. The dishes in the kitchen began rattling against each other and the corner of my living room became fuzzy and pixilated. After a few moments a dark patch of black void gapped before all of us.

Dende-sama rushed to Piccolo's side, "We have to go NOW!"

"PICCOLO!" I screamed. "What do you want?!"

Dende-sama was halfway through the portal. "NOW PICCOLO!"

I watched in silent agony as Piccolo wheeled around and ran toward Dende-sama.

Why, Piccolo? Why?

His green hand thrust forward and slammed into the guardian, throwing him backward into the portal.

What the heck?

His moccasined feet dug into the carpet, slowing his forward motion. A pair of intense obsidian eyes locked with mine. His thin lips were moving in unison, forming words that came to my astonished ears with a second delay.

"PICCOLO-SAN!" I heard Dende-sama cry out from the depths of the abyss.

"Tell Gohan thank you for me..." Piccolo called into the portal, his eyes never leaving my face. His outstretched hand began to glow and the demon pointed two fingers toward the opening. A small lightening bolt of energy shot forward, zapping the gateway closed. Forever.

Jay-chan's mouth was hanging off its hinges.

Piccolo stood in my living room, his eyes still locked in a trance with mine.

I stood frozen to the floor. Oh... my... God...

"You better not make me regret this, TA..." he snorted.

I squealed and raced forward, tackling Piccolo with a hug.

A/N: I just wanted to take this time to thank all of you who have taken the time to read and review this story. It's great to see old friends and new Piccolo fanatics enjoying my modest work here on Thanks for all the support and enjoy the rest of the story!


	14. Chapter 14

Piccolo grabbed my arm and peeled me off of his body. He marched toward the front door, but Jay-chan caught a hold of his cape before he could escape.

"What just happened?" Her eyes were still stuck wide open.

"I'm staying," Piccolo growled, apparently annoyed with Jay-chan for having stopped him.

"Well no kidding, but why? What changed your mind? Why were you trying to get Tiffy to hate you? Do you really care about her or something? You must care about her otherwise you wouldn't have tried to leave in such an altruistic manner... You wanted her to hate you, so she could get over you faster once you left... But... since she couldn't hate you... something changed..."

The whites of Piccolo's fangs were showing and a loud rumble resounded in the depths of his throat. "Whatever, gaki!" He whipped his cape out of Jay-chan's knuckle-white fingers and opened the door. The demon stopped suddenly. "I'm gunna get some air. I'll be back when I feel like it." The door slammed shut.

Jay-chan looked at me with that same deer-caught-in-headlights expression she'd had for the past five minutes. "Wow, I totally didn't expect that."

I nodded slowly, still equally shocked.

The longhaired woman shook her head suddenly and raced over to me, tugging on my arm. "What the heck am I saying?! I should be hounding you for your booty session with Piccolo last night!"

"Wha?!" I choked as Jay-chan yanked me over and onto the couch. "B-Booty session? With Piccolo?!"

The brunette winked, "Yeah, how was it?"

"Jay-chan! We never had sex! Holy crap, how fast do you think I move with guys?!"

Jay-chan pouted, "You really are stupid. What if Piccolo hadn't stayed, huh? You never would have been able to lay him EVER!"

I shook my head, "Dude, it's not like that. Stop reading all those trashy, poorly written InuYasha X Kagome fanfics. The timing was barely right for kissing him."

My best friend squealed, "So you kissed him?!"

"Yeah..." I could feel the blush on my cheeks burning as I recalled the events of last night in my head.

"So how was it?"

My eyes shot open, "Can we say one-track mind, Jay?!"

"You didn't answer my question," she grinned.

"It... was cool... He's not bad considering I was his first kiss."

"That is so CUTE!" she squealed.

"Well, yeah, it didn't last very long... but, he let me sleep on him!" I smiled.

"So I saw! Wow, this just might work!"

My smile dropped, "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," Jay-chan lied through her teeth. "Hm... Why don't you go get us some In-N-Out?"

"ME? Why do I have to do it? I don't have a car and it's hella far to bike---"

"Just get out of here, Tiffy! Go see a movie or something!" Jay-chan proceeded to push me out the door and lock me out of my own apartment.

Okay... Now what? Hm... In-N-Out it is, I guess.

I hopped on my bike and began pedaling down 3rd street. I can't even believe Piccolo decided to stay... What do you make of that? Does he like me or did I just make him feel really bad about leaving? We STILL haven't talked about last night... I wonder if he enjoyed it. I mean, I've never heard anyone react to my touch the way he did. It makes me wonder what other things I could do to him to get a similar reaction...

BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP

A black Firebird swerved to the side as I came back to reality. That's when I saw the cobalt Excursion. Coming right at me. I screamed, but my ears were deaf to the sound, as a more intense sensation assaulted my senses. My bike collapsed beneath me and I could feel the flesh of my arm tearing from the bone. It felt like fire engulfing my limb. I looked above me, the Excursion approaching in slow motion, the driver's face reflecting my fear and horror.

So... This is how it ends...

There was a flash of white and the pain consumed my entire body. Blackness took over.

When I awoke, I could barely make out the structures above me. Looks like white squares... with holes in them... Where the hell am I? Am I dead?

"TA?" a masculine voice called from somewhere to my left.

A memory popped into my head. A tall, green man throwing himself against a cobalt car. A big car.

I turned my head until the source of the voice was in my right visual field. That's when I noticed that some odd gauzy substance was covering my left eye.

"I'm blind!" I tried to scream, but my throat was parched and my exclamation came out as a raspy shriek.

The green man who had thrown himself into the car approached me and waved a hand in front of my face. Ow... Don't do that, dammit...

Another memory appeared suddenly. The green man threw the car off course and stopped the next approaching car with his foot.

"TA, do you know where you are?" The green man was wearing a hoodie that appeared much too small for his large frame.

"I dunno..." I sighed.

"Do you know who I am?" he asked as he leaned closer to me.

I suddenly recalled a rather heated scene in which this green man and I were sharing a passionate kiss.

"Piccolo!" I shouted as best I could.

The demon's head dropped and he sighed loudly, "Thank Kami-sama..."

"What happened to me? What's going on?" I tried to move around but Piccolo held me down.

"You shouldn't move around too much. You're in the hospital. You were in an accident, kid."

"Accident? With the Excursion?"

Piccolo gave me a weird look, "Yeah... I guess that's what it was. I would call it a car."

I giggled, "An Excursion is a type of car, Piccolo. You're a guy, you should be into cars; you know, the sexiest car is a Corvette, especially the '67 Sting Ray---"

The Namek placed a hand over my mouth, "Hey, the doctor said to take it easy, okay?"

"Right," I responded as if the doctor had told me this directly. "So I was in an accident? Did I get run over?!"

"No," Piccolo said, "I stopped the car just in time. What the hell were you doing biking through on-coming traffic anyway?" His brows were drawn low. Uh oh... I'm in trouble...

"I was thinking."

"You need to think in a safer area..." Piccolo shook his head. "You must have been thinking of something really intense to have been that distracted... Was it something I said to you?"

I suddenly recalled the last bits of fantasy I'd been having right before my accident. My cheeks burned. "No! It wasn't you at all! You're right! I shouldn't think and bike! Most definitely not!"

The demon gave me an odd look, "Ooookay..."

I looked at Piccolo again, taking in his short hoodie, crotch-hugging high waters, and moccasined feet. Wow, is he still wearing his gi under all of that? "You sure I wasn't the only one involved in the accident, Piccolo? You look like hell."

The demon looked down at himself. "I couldn't raise a scene here in the hospital... I got enough crap from the people on the road... so I stole the Excursion guy's clothes."

There was a light tap at the door and Piccolo and I both looked toward the doorway. A young man in a white lab coat approached us. "Miss. Angel?"

Miss. what now? I gave Piccolo a weird look. "Yeah, that's me."

"You're free to leave. I've checked on your stats and you seem to be just fine. Just keep some ice on your face and arm if you feel any discomfort; IbuProfen is great for reducing swelling. Keep an eye on those stitches and come back to see us in about 10-12 days; we'll see how well you're healing up and consider removal of the stitches at a later date."

So... much... information... My head...

"Sounds good, buddy," I gave him a lopsided grin and a thumbs up.

The doctor looked to Piccolo, who had his back to the man. "Mr. Swayze, you're free to take Miss. Angel home now."

"Sure," Piccolo snorted.

The doctor left and I started giggling.

"What's so funny?" Piccolo growled.

"Mr. Swayze?! Oh come on!"

The demon's nose crinkled up, "I think a fake name was the last thing on my mind when I arrived here, kid."

"Oh yeah," I blushed sheepishly, "Sorry..."

Piccolo reached down and scooped me into his arms. Then I felt a draft...

"HOLY SHIT!" I screamed.

The Namek almost dropped me. "What the fuck's wrong?!"

"My freakin' butt is hanging out, that's what's wrong!"

Piccolo regained his composure. "Calm down. I have your clothes tucked into my gi belt. You can get dressed at home. Right now, we have to get out of here before more people notice me."

"But I'm, like, half NAKED! You saw me naked, didn't you?!" I pointed an accusing finger.

The demon sighed aloud.

"Oh you did!" I wailed. "You saw me naked! Oh God!" I want to cry...

"Look, I didn't see much, okay? I didn't know I was supposed to leave the room when the nurse came in to put you in that paper gown thing..."

"Well, there's no way in hell I'm going to fly with you like this... I don't need the whole rest of the world seeing my naked ass..."

Piccolo dropped me on the bed before he began struggling with his poorly assembled outfit. A white piece of cloth came free and grew in size as he continued to tug at it. It was his cape! Once the fabric was free, he threw it at me. "Put that on."

I wrapped myself as best I could with my uninjured arm and allowed Piccolo to carry me out of the hospital.

I can't believe he saw me naked... I think I would have rather let that Excursion hit me had I known THIS would have happened...

When Piccolo and I got home, Jay-chan shrieked at the sight of my injuries.

"I said get In-N-Out, not get hospitalized! Oh my God, Tiffy!"

I grinned and gave her a thumbs up, "It's okay. Piccolo saved me."

"Yeah, no kidding! Oh my God!"

I looked over at the Namek, who was sniffing around my living room. "Um... Piccolo?"

"I smell something burning..."

Jay-chan shrieked and dashed into my bedroom. Shortly after she disappeared, the fire alarm started screaming. Piccolo collapsed to the floor, his hands over his ears as he tried to block out the high-pitched wailing. I ran into my room and saw several candles lit, one of which had turned into a huge inferno.

"What the hell, Jay?!"

Jay-chan grabbed up the cup of extra water I kept for Silent Bob, my goldfish, and doused the flames. I ran over to the fire alarm and waved the smoke away from it until it stopped beeping. My best friend dashed frantically around the apartment, opening windows and doors.

Piccolo moaned from his place on the floor and I walked over to him, rubbing his temples with my good hand. He batted me away the minute Jay-chan returned from the kitchen.

"What the fuck, Jay-chan?!" he growled.

"Um... I kinda... sorta... set up a little something in Tiffy's room, but it got out of hand..."

I gave Jay-chan a meaningful look, one she blatantly ignored, and Piccolo cursed her under his breath.

"Just what were you doing in there anyway?" he demanded.

"Um... Although I feel really bad about what just happened, I can't tell you... so I'm gunna go home!" Jay-chan raced to my front door. "Sorry about the accident and the fire, Tiffy! Bye!"

I shook my head and Piccolo and I headed over to my room. There were candles everywhere, flickering softly. The curtains were drawn shut so my room shone a bright gold. The bed sheets were turned down, making the bed look extremely inviting, and the room smelled of my Halo scent from Victoria's Secret. Listening carefully I could hear Maroon 5's "She Will Be Loved" playing from my Itunes... Oh... holy... crap... I would have taken the Excursion any day... not this... Definitely not this.


	15. Chapter 15

There's gotta be a way to play this off... Um... Jay-chan was preparing to do a sayonce? Um... It's the perfect setting for stress relief? Shit... I gave Piccolo a horrified look.

"Wow, I never would have pegged Jay-chan for a dyke," Piccolo gasped.

I almost fell on my face. "What the hell are you talking about?!"

Piccolo pointed to my sex-adorned bedroom, "Look at all the stuff she did for you. She must have had some really complicated plans thought out for tonight. I feel kinda bad for ruining them..."

I could feel my eyebrow twitching. I wanna slap this moron.

"You should go talk to her, TA... This is crazy..."

"God dammit, Piccolo! You're a freakin' idiot! Jay-chan isn't a dyke!"

The demon gave me a condescending look, "Hey, I saw how fast she ran out that door when all that chaos ensued, she was really embarrassed. She must have it really bad for you."

I sighed heavily.

"TA?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have feelings for Jay-chan?"

Something snapped in my head and my good fist was pounding the stupid moron's chest in seconds. "What the hell?! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! I'm not gay! Jay-chan isn't gay! NO ONE HERE IS GAY! She set all this crap up for YOU AND ME!"

I stopped my assault suddenly.

"You and me?" Piccolo parroted back.

Crammit...

"Yeah," I replied nervously.

The Namek's brow ridge shot up to the center of his forehead.

"I had nothing to do with this, Piccolo, I swear! She literally kicked my ass out of the apartment and sent me out to get lunch! If I'da known---"

"Calm down, kid. It's okay."

My eyes bugged out, "It is?!"

"Yeah," he sighed. "It sounds like something Jay-chan would do so I'm not gunna hold you responsible." He walked into my room and started blowing out the candles. "Like we need any more fire hazards around here, Jay-chan's bad enough..."

I stood in the doorway, staring at my bed wistfully, remembering a time when it served as more than just a place to sleep.

"Tiffy, are you okay?"

I snapped out of my trance, "What did you just say?"

"I asked you if you were okay," he replied, giving me a concerned look. "Are you feeling oka---"

"No," I interrupted, "before that... What did you call me?"

"I called you Tiffy," he stated matter-of-factly.

"You never call me by my real name..." Dude! He called me by my real name!

"Whatever," he snorted.

I smiled despite myself and approached him. The room was really dark now that the candles were out and the curtains hadn't been opened. I squeezed my one hand into a fist.

"So... Um... How do you feel about last night?"

He looked at me for a few moments before answering, "I don't really know... I don't know quite what to make of it... That sentimental nonsense really pisses me off, you know!" he shot back in defense.

I saw right through it. "You didn't seem that pissed off last night..."

"Shut-up," he snarled.

I grabbed the back of his head and yanked him down to my level, "I think you're the one who needs to shut-up!" I closed my mouth over his, pressing hard against his lips. He gasped and tried to pull away like he did last night, although there was more urgency in this defensive move. My vice-like grip on his neck didn't lessen despite his effort and he soon ceased his struggles. After waiting a few moments for him to respond, I gave up and pulled away with a dejected sigh.

"You suck.." was all I could muster.

"I have no idea what I'm doing, dammit!"

I gave him a pleading look, "Do you at least enjoy it? I mean, with me. Could you enjoy this just as much if it were Jay-chan or Bulma?"

Piccolo had a horrified look on his face after I mentioned Bulma.

"Well?" I prompted.

"You already know that I've never done this with anyone before... so of course I can't imagine doing this with anyone else... All I have to go by is what I've done with you."

"You didn't answer my first question," I folded my arms across my chest, the paper gown crinkling under the cape I wore. My eyes were glued to the carpet.

"TA... Tiffy... I don't know how to explain how it makes me feel. I don't even know if I'm enjoying it. I have nothing to base these new feelings on. At all. Maybe that means I am enjoying it since I basically only know what hatred, anger, jealousy, depression, and pain feel like."

I smirked, "Quite the limited emotional repertoire you've got there..."

"Yeah... It kinda... as you said... sucks. I really don't know how to show you what you want to see."

I looked up at him, "Here, I'll make this easy for you. If you really enjoy it, then do it when you want to. You kiss me. If you never feel the urge to kiss me, then you obviously don't enjoy it."

Piccolo considered this for a moment. "That sounds easy enough..."

I shifted in place, irritated with myself. Dammit... He totally hates it. I'm a freakin' moron... Then I felt something fall off of me... The cape! I wheeled around and saw my naked butt in full view in the mirror behind me... and Piccolo's shocked face.

"God dammit!" I screamed and dove under my bed sheets. Wonderful timing, butt... Yes, when in doubt, moon the poor bastard... I groaned out loud.

I could hear Piccolo chuckling softly.

"It's not funny, you crap head!"

I heard the Namek approach my bed.

"Touch me and die!" I snarled from underneath the fluffy mass.

"It's okay, TA..."

"No it's not! I was being totally serious but nooooo God decided to exact revenge on me right then and there by playing Peek-a-Butt with us! I must have done something to really piss Him off this time..."

Piccolo nearly choked on a chuckle. Wonderful... "What's the big deal? It's just your ass. Everyone has one."

I threw the covers back so I could see his purple-stained face. "It's MY butt!" I screamed. "Mine! No one else gets to see it!"

The demon was quiet for a moment, "....Except me, right?" And then he started laughing...

"I hate you!" I snarled and burrowed back into my sheets.

I felt Piccolo's hands creep up my back even under all of my covers; he slowly pulled the covers down, exposing my bare back to him. "You need to calm down, kid... You're gunna over exert yourself..."

His hands ran up the column of my neck, gripping the tender flesh there and massaging it. His hands were warm and the rough calluses on his fingers tingled my skin as he worked my neck and shoulders. I let out a sigh before I even realized it.

"That's helping isn't it?" he responded.

"Yeah," I practically moaned into my pillow. "I'm a sucker for good back massages."

"It's good stress relief. Helps me get back into my training sooner since it gets a lot of knots out."

I nodded, drowning in the sensations he was stirring within me. Had he any idea?

"So you enjoy this?" he asked curiously.

"Oh yes!" I giggled.

"How do you show that you enjoy it?"

I blushed, "Um... Why don't you tell me? Haven't you noticed any of my reactions?"

Piccolo was quiet for a moment, "You're smiling... Um... Your face is a little pink... You're making weird noises..."

I burst out laughing on that last one.

"Yeah," Piccolo snorted, clearly annoyed with me.

"Well, see? That wasn't so hard. I'm responding to what you're doing. To show you I enjoy it even more, I'll prolly ask you to do this again and again." I grinned at him.

I felt him grip the tie on my gown. What the hell?!

"What are you doing?!" I freaked.

"It's in the way..." he mumbled.

"Yeah! And it's the only thing covering me! Leave it alone!" I tried to bat at him but he just held me down with one hand, the other gripping the tie. He bent his head down and tore it apart with his fangs. Gripping the edge of the paper, he pulled it away from my body. I lay there as still as possible... Holy crap... This is too much...

The Namek's hands returned to my back. "See? That's a lot better."

"...I'm naked..." I grumbled.

Piccolo stopped his massage. "What's the big damn deal?! You humans are so stupid!"

"We are not... we just don't get naked very often... It's society's fault," I pouted.

"Whatever. It's not like I haven't seen you naked before. First time was when you were fucking with---"

"Stop!" I wheeled around and slapped my good hand over his mouth. The tears were already stinging my eyes. Oh God... "Please stop, Piccolo..."

A single tear slipped down my cheek and I watched the demon lord's pupils follow it. His hand closed over mine and pulled it away.

"Tiffy..." I could feel his breath on my face.

"Just stop talking, Piccolo..." My heart squeezed painfully in my chest.

I snapped to attention when I felt him wipe the tear away. His expression was unreadable yet again. A large green hand returned to my face and held my cheek. I looked deep into his eyes, searching for something, anything to tell me what he might be feeling right now. Seeing nothing but confusion, I swallowed hard.

"What are you feeling right now, Piccolo?"

His eyes looked right through mine. "I feel like I want to do this..." and his lips molded to mine in a soft kiss. I closed my eyes and felt the tears slip past freely. My pain mixing with his pleasure.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Pull up a chair, grab up a bottle of water, and squeeze a bit of lemon in it. The following is gunna be a little citric-y! Read: SOME SEXUAL CONTENT! Be mature and know your limits. Aye, I hope this doesn't suck. --

I pulled away from his drugging kiss and arched my body into his. I could feel his warm breath on my neck.

"Can I kiss you somewhere else?" I heard him whisper in my ear, his voice deep and husky.

"You can kiss me anywhere you want..." I sighed and then gasped as I felt his mouth close over my neck tentatively.

He trailed feather light kisses up to my ear as I began pulling up the bottom of his hoodie. His arms rose above his head as he allowed me to remove and discard the item. The fires within me came to life with renewed force, engulfing my body and clouding my mind. I laid back onto the mattress, Piccolo crawling on top of me slowly, his mouth returning to mine. I forced his lips apart with my tongue and delved deep, enjoying the noises my actions elicited from the Namek. His hand gripped the covers surrounding my body and began pulling then down slowly. They had barely reached the peaks of my breasts when I felt Piccolo scramble off of my body.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I pulled the comforters up around me. Piccolo was staring down at himself and then I noticed the problem... Well, he's well endowed! "Um... That's totally normal, you know?"

"I know... I just... Arg, this is such a problem!" His eyes narrowed.

I got up from the bed, covers still around me, and stood next to him, "It's not really a problem per se..."

"It is to me... My dad used to use this thing... in bad ways..." Piccolo's eyes were cold and distant, as if he were a million miles away from me even though we were mere inches apart in reality.

"How?" I asked, feeling myself shudder involuntarily.

"The women never wanted to use it... They never did it willingly..." He sat on the floor.

I closed my eyes, forcing myself to be strong for Piccolo as I sat down with him. "He raped them?"

"Yeah... A lot of them..."

I unconsciously glanced down at Piccolo's crotch. "How did he do that? How did he get a penis in the first place? He was a Namek."

"He was the embodiment of evil; he could do anything he wanted to. Growing male anatomy was a simple feat for him... After he knew what he could do with it... he wanted it... and he gave it to me when he created me..." he snorted. "You already know that he left all of his memories with me so that I could carry out his mission of taking over the world... Well, he left those other memories too..."

My hand went to my mouth. Oh my God... Poor Piccolo... How horrible...

"I can close my eyes and see everything... This thing seems so incompetent when it's not so... um... hard... but when it is..."

I threw my arms around him, "Piccolo..."

His arms slowly wrapped around me, holding me close to his body. "I never did that. Never."

I looked into his obsidian eyes, "I know."

"I really want you to know that."

I buried myself in the crook of his neck and caressed the back of his head, "Thank you... Thank you for telling me..." I nuzzled his neck and placed a soft kiss on his lips. He pulled me into his lap and burrowed into my hair, hiding his face from me. I ran my nails down the tough, sinews of his back, doing my best to ease the tension out of his muscles. Then I felt something rub against my left thigh...

"Um, Piccolo?"

"Fuck..." he sighed and pulled away.

"What's wrong?"

"It's doing it again..."

I didn't mean to but I kinda looked down... Wow... That's intimidating.

"It'll go away, TA, I swear!"

I tried not to giggle, "I know, take it easy."

"I really hate this," he growled in frustration, occasionally trying to push down on the tent in his lap.

"Why?"

"It only does this in situations that would be perfect for my father to take advantage of..." He snarled and grabbed up his cape, throwing it across his legs.

"You've been in a few situations like this before, Piccolo, and nothing bad happened. You're not your father; you never will be. Just trust yourself... and trust me... If you ever go too fast for me, I WILL tell you... I owe you that much."

The Namek looked at me suddenly, life shining in the hypnotic depths of his eyes. "You trust me that much?"

"I always have..." I took his hand. "Come here."

I pulled him on top of me and started kissing his lips. After several light kisses, I pulled away, "Is it still a problem?"

"... Yes..."

My lips molded to his, but this time I ran my tongue along his lower lip. When he gasped, I inserted it into his mouth, exploring him thoroughly. I ran my tongue along the insides of his mouth, against his tongue, and over his fangs. This experiment continued until I heard him growling in response.

I pulled away, "Still a problem?"

"...Yes..." he replied, annoyed, yet his cheeks were a little flushed.

"Do you like it?"

His eyes widened slightly, "Um..."

"Do you feel pleasure anywhere?" I prompted.

His face turned bright purple and he buried his face in the covers on my stomach. I giggled. "It's okay! It's okay! You know, if it's so bad for you to feel pleasure, then I'm in trouble too."

Piccolo looked up at me suddenly, "You feel it too?"

Now I was the one blushing, "...Yeah... See? It's normal..."

A small smile crept its way onto the Namek's face, "That's good to know..." he whispered as he leaned in for a kiss.

I smiled softly as his hands began caressing my face, exploring curiously and yet I could feel a sense of determination in his every move. My mind was reeling from the sensations his touch was stirring within me and I barely noticed that he'd begun to remove the comforters. I sucked in my breath and searched out his eyes.

"Tiffy... Do you mind?"

A blush streaked across my face and I broke contact with his eyes. "Um... I don't know... I..."

Piccolo bowed his head and nuzzled my face. "You do trust me, right?"

I smiled at the rare display of affection, "Of course I do. I'm just a little shy." I pressed my forehead to his and giggled.

His arm slipped under my back and I tensed as he removed the covers separating our bodies. Goose bumps sprang up all over my skin and I closed my eyes, afraid of what I'd see in his. Does he like what he sees? Where are we going with all of this exactly? Oh my God... What if we...?

"Tiffy... Wow..."

I opened my eyes and forced myself to look at him. "What?"

His eyes were scanning over my naked body, wonder softening his sharp features. I watched him intently until he looked up at me. "This is amazing..."

My face burned, "Thank... you?"

Piccolo's lips tugged upward and he placed a kiss on my stomach.

"Hee hee!"

The Namek looked up at me, one of his brow ridges arched up, "What's wrong?"

"That tickles!"

He smiled wider before his long nails began scratching my sides. I rolled over onto my stomach, trying to protect my skin from the demon.

"Leave me alone!" I was drowning in my hysterics, unable to breathe.

"Well, looky here! Tiffy's ass is making another guest appearance today!" he roared.

"Oh my God, shut-UP!" I snarled between my giggles.

Piccolo crawled on top of me and I could feel him trying to reclaim the territory he'd just lost.

"No! No! No!" I squealed.

I could hear his soft laughter as he'd get the occasional tickle in between my ribs. Then his knee hit me between the legs. I gasped.

"Oops! You okay?" he asked, shocked and surprised.

"Y-Yeah..." I replied nervously.

"Did I hurt you?"

"Not exactly..." I kept my face in the carpet, nervous and shy and intrigued all at the same time.

I heard his heavy breathing and then I felt his knee rub against me again. Oh my God...

"Piccolo..." I sighed.

His hands were caressing my back again, easing the tension out of my muscles. "Show me what else you enjoy..." he purred in my ear.

Holy crap... I could feel my body burning for him and his words only fanned the flames into an inferno. I pulled away from his leg and turned onto my back. Pulling his face to mine, I kissed him softly. Just distract him and things won't go beyond this. Distract him... Oh my God... I don't know if I can go beyond this... Should I? I kept kissing his face. Everything. Eyelids, nose, forehead, I was totally nondiscriminant in my assault on his face. He pulled away after a while though.

"Tiffy... Show me..."

Oh God... Oh God...

I swallowed hard and took his hand in mine, intertwining my fingers in and out of his. "Touch me," I whispered.

"That's what I've been doing," he replied.

"No... Touch me here..." I placed his hand between my legs and watched his eyes widen.

He wrapped his other arm around me and held me close as he explored me intimately. I watched the expressions on his face and felt myself relaxing a little. His touch was so warm and comforting. I nearly forgot that I was the only one undressed in my bedroom as pleasure washed over my body. I closed my eyes on a soft moan...

"This feels good to you?" he whispered.

I nodded and opened my eyes. He was watching my face intently, looking for any signs of discomfort... How can he look at me like that? I thought he hated me... Hah, great time to think of that, huh? But still... I have to know...

"Piccolo?"

"M-hmm?" came his lethargic response, his fingers never stopping their gentle exploration.

"Where are we going with this exactly?"

His eyes locked with mine, a seriousness in their depths that I had never seen before, "Anywhere you wanna go with it."

"Well," I bit down on my lower lip, "What do you think of me anyway?"

I felt him slip a finger inside of me and I gasped at the incredible sensation it sent through my entire body. "You okay, kid?"

I caught my breath, "Yeah... Wow... I don't know how you're doing this so well..."

Piccolo blushed a little, "Um... Well... Let's just say that I'm not nearly as innocent as people tend to think I am."

A wicked smile flashed across my face, "You picked up these moves from my fanfics, didn't you?!"

The demon's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, "What now?!"

"You pervert!" I teased.

"Gimme a break, TA!" he snorted indignantly.

"It's true and you know it!"

His onyx eyes narrowed, "I borrowed some pornographic videos from Vegeta once, that's all..."

I choked on a laugh. "Oh please! You did not! Where'd you watch it, huh? In your cave in the Sahara Desert? You get TV reception there, do you? Gimme a break! And anyone who calls porn 'pornographic videos' is clearly a virgin in the dirty movie industry! You read my stories and picked up some moves there and I know it!"

I felt his finger delve deep inside of me suddenly and I nearly gagged on my next zinger. Burying my face in his chest, I ended the conversation.

"That shut you up!" he growled victorious. He was quiet for a few moments before speaking up again. "In answer to your previous question, kid, I'm not the best at heart-to-hearts... but I do know that I wouldn't do this with just anyone. I don't want you to be sad anymore and I hope I can help you be a happier person. I'm really sorry about the hell you've been through these past few months, but I'll be here as long as you need me..."

"You..." I swallowed hard, forcing myself to remain coherent. "You really wanna stay?"

"I didn't abandon my world for nothing, kid."

I smiled and clutched at his purple shirt.

"Here, let me get this outta the way." He pulled his finger out of me and pulled his shirt over his head. I just about dropped dead when I saw his defined pecs and chiseled abs. Wow...

Piccolo tried to pull me back toward him but I held back, suddenly overtaken by my fangirlish nature. "Lose the pants too!"

Piccolo grinned, "Alright. Seeing as how you're already naked, things might as well be equal..."

"Damn straight!" I grinned at him, crossing my arms over my chest. "Let's see those boxers!"

The warrior squeezed out of the Excursion man's high waters and then pulled the blue sash holding up his purple gi pants. "Boxers? What are those?" he gave me an odd look and my jaw nearly hit the floor as I realized that Piccolo was one of those commandos. Shit, he's probably never heard of boxers in his entire life!

"Um..." I looked away from Piccolo's obvious arousal and bit my lip. Shit... This is really intimidating... What the hell am I doing?! No boxers... Wonderful. God, what do I do now?

"Tif?" The demon walked up and knelt down before me. "You okay?"

"I don't know, Piccolo," I confessed, my eyes pleading. "I'm scared."

"Scared of what?"

"Of us being so... naked."

Piccolo looked down at himself and then at me. "What's so wrong with that? It's natural. You need to relax."

He reached up and pulled me into his arms. I was squished up against his rock-hard chest and looked deep into his obsidian eyes. A green, clawed hand reached out and brushed a few stray strands of hair out of my face.

I smiled. "That's nice..."

Piccolo smirked at me and continued to run his fingers through my hair. I closed my eyes and inhaled the demon's scent, my muscles and my anxiety-plagued mind calming with the passing time.

"I don't think you're afraid of us being naked together, Tiffy..." Piccolo spoke up.

"Nani?"

"I think you're afraid of what could happen if we're naked together..."

I giggled, "Since when did you become the sexpert around here? I always pegged you for a virgin."

Piccolo looked away, suddenly embarrassed. "Hey... I'm not totally uneducated..."

My eyes sparkled. "Experience doesn't matter to me."

The demon looked at me, his eyes searching for something... "Are you really afraid, Tiffy?"

My breath caught in my throat. "I... Not really... I guess I'm just used to the bad memories left behind from---"

Piccolo's lips closed over mine and we stayed glued to each other in a lip-lock for several moments before he pulled away, "I have bad memories too, kid. Not from personal experience, but the memories plague me too..."

His father's raping sprees...

"We can make new ones."

My heart stopped and my eyes flew wide open.

"Maybe good memories will make you happier."

Someone's hand was squeezing my heart. It was painful but refreshing. I felt alive; reborn after being dead for so long... A longing so intense throbbed deep inside of me and I felt the tears start to well up in my eyes.

"They could make you happy too..." I whispered, my throat constricted with the sudden emotion overloading my system.

Piccolo just smiled at me.

He wants to make me happy. Me. He wants to make love with me to make me feel better, to make me happy. He wants to give his first experience to me...

I reached around his back and pulled myself even closer to him. His arms encircled my small frame and held me, his warmth engulfing my body.

He shifted and placed me on the comforters we'd abandoned earlier. I looked up into his eyes, trusting no one but him at that moment. Obsidian eyes were watching me, monitoring my every reaction. Piccolo bowed his head and kissed my lips.

"I'm not sure how to do this exactly... I know the basics, but getting started is..."

I smiled shyly and pulled him into a kiss. My hand reached between our bodies and united us, our pasts melting away in the presence of the heat generated by the intensity of that first moment. The first moment in months where I knew everything was gunna be okay...


	17. Chapter 17

A/N: Have you ever heard a song that just inspired the hell out of you? Well, that's what happened to me today and WHAM! New chapter! I couldn't even finish studying today because of it… I just had to write this chapter. The song is called "Collide" by Howie Day. Enjoy!

I squeezed my eyes shut as he rocked against me. The air in my room was heavy and the sweat glistening on my body mixed with his as out bodies collided again and again. Stars exploded behind my eyelids and I clung desperately to his thick neck.

Oh Piccolo…

I heard him cry out and my eyes opened, the lids hanging low and obscuring my vision. He was biting his lip, holding back.

"Piccolo." I was gunna tell him to relax, to just let go. This is wonderful, but it doesn't have to last forever… but his mouth closed over mine and the passion in that kiss blew me away. One of his clawed hands grasped the side of my face and his tongue slipped between my lips as he continued to pour himself into me.

When he pulled away and started kissing along my neck, I realized I'd forgotten what I was going to say…

_The dawn is breaking,_

_A light shinning through,_

_You're barely waking,_

_And I'm tangled up in you,_

_Yeah_

When I opened my eyes, the sun was hanging low in the sky. What time is it?

"Hey kid…" a deep voice rumbled to my left.

I looked up to see Piccolo lying on the floor next to me, his cape draped over the both of us.

"H-Hey Piccolo…" my cheeks burned red suddenly and I burrowed into the cape surrounding us.

"Nani?" I heard him mumble from the depths of his cape.

"We just… We just…"

"Yeah," he snorted.

I crept out from under the cape and looked at him quizzically. "Um… Did you enjoy it?" How is it that every time you ask that, it sounds so perverted?

A small smile crept over Piccolo's face, but he recovered quickly and grumbled a nearly incoherent, "Yeah."

He turned toward the window, gazing at the setting sun, and my eyes wandered over the sharp features of his profile. My body responded almost immediately, filling with a strange tingling sensation. Wow… That's interesting. Sure didn't take me long to bond to him.

"Did you?" I barely heard it. In fact, I'm not even sure if that's what he really said or not but I still responded.

"It was wonderful… I wouldn't mind doing it again some day…" The blush burned on my cheeks.

_I'm open, you're closed,_

_Where I follow, you'll go,_

_I worry I won't see your face,_

_light up again_

Piccolo's onyx eyes locked with mine for a moment and the fire that burned there reassured me that he felt the same. His head lowered and his body inched closer to mine. Clawed fingers racked through my hair and soft lips touched mine. Then the door to my bedroom burst open.

"Oh my God, you guys, I totally forgot to give you the… Holy shit!"

Piccolo pulled away, making a noise that sounded much like a wounded animal. I burrowed back under the cape, stealing as much away from Piccolo as I could. Hey, don't give me that look! I have more to hide than he does!

"Piccolo, you stupid jerk!" I heard the intruder's voice raise several octaves. I don't think I need to come out of hiding to know who's giving Piccolo a hard time.

"Wh-What the fuck?!" he stumbled over his own words. "You're the one who set all this shit up!"

"I didn't think you'd really DO IT!!"

"She wanted to!" I heard Piccolo cry in outrage and felt one of his nails jab me in the ribs through his cape.

I heard footsteps approach my sanctuary and they stopped right in front of me. "Tiffy, did you have sex with this stupid idiot?!"

My body shivered at her tone, "You know… saying 'stupid idiot' is pretty redundant… Doesn't 'idiot' imply 'stupid'?"

"TIFFY!!!"

"Aye!" I grabbed more cape from Piccolo. "Yes! I did! I wanted to! Wah!"

"That's it!" I heard her scream. "I have no choice! You two have five minutes to get dressed and meet me in the living room! So hurry up!"

The door slammed and I felt, rather than saw, Piccolo shudder.

"Hey…" I heard him whisper and his warm hand nudged me.

I slowly crawled out of hiding and looked into his eyes. Suddenly overwhelmed with emotion, I flung my arms around his neck. He hesitated for only a moment before putting his arms around my waist.

"Piccolo, I'm scared!" I shuddered, forcing the tears back.

"Scared? Of what?"

"Jay-chan!"

Piccolo almost fell over, but regained his composure before we both ate carpet.

_Even the best fall down sometimes,_

_Even the wrong words seem to rhyme,_

_Out of the doubt that fills my mind,_

_I somehow find,_

_You and I,_

_Collide…_

"Don't be scared of Jay-chan, she's full of hot air, that's all." His voice was soft with amusement.

"Did I do something wrong again? What if we weren't supposed to make love?"

"Hey. You didn't do anything wrong. We did what we wanted to do and it's none of her business anyway."

His stern voice soothed my guilt-plagued mind. He got up and started dressing and I watched him, thinking about the past few crazy days. I must have zoned out cuz I didn't even notice Piccolo when he kneeled down in front of me, with only his pants on. Yeah, not noticing shirtless Piccolo is kind of wrong, huh?

"Hey." His voice was just above a whisper. "I don't know where you're mind is wandering, but I just thought I'd say I'm not going anywhere."

I smiled softly, "I know. You told me that already."

"No, I mean, after what we just did… I'm not just gunna get up and go… You don't have to worry about me being one of those fucks who leaves once they get what they want." His eyes held mine for a moment before he got up and grabbed his shirt.

I was speechless. That was so… nice. I snuggled up in his cape, wrapped up in the best sense of security ever.

"Hey."

"Yeah?" I smiled at him.

"You wanna get dressed or what?"

My eyes flew open and a blush streaked across my face… again. "Oh yeah!"

_I'm quiet you know,_

_You make a first impression,_

_I've found I'm scared to know I'm always on your mind_

Jay-chan threw a fist full of condoms at Piccolo, "Think, dummy! And you too, Tiffy!"

The Namek flew to his feet, his chi exploding around him. "Why don't you shut the fuck up?! This is NONE of your business!"

I noticed the rubbers closest to him beginning to shrivel and melt. Guess we won't be using those! I stifled a giggle.

"You think this is funny, Tiffy? You won't think it's funny when you have a little Piccolo brat running around here!"

"Dude!" I burst out into hysterics. "You forget, I'm on The Pill for my cramps of death!"

Jay-chan's face was blank for a moment.

"Piccolo won't get me pregnant."

The demon glared at me.

"What?" I shrugged. "It's true."

Jay-chan rested her head in her hands, "Well, that makes me feel better. I'd forgotten about that, but still! Use condoms as added protection!"

Piccolo sat back down, his arms folded indignantly across his chest. Jay-chan flicked another condom at him and he stared at it for a moment before tearing it open and staring at the little green cap that fell out onto his shirt.

"I don't even know how to use this shit!" he snarled.

"That's what the instructions are for," Jay-chan rolled her eyes. "Jeeze you guys! You certainly didn't waste any time… So how was it?"

Piccolo fell out of his seat and landed on his face. My eyes flew wide open, "Wh-what?!" I squeaked.

"You heard me," Jay-chan's eyelashes lowered dangerously.

The Namek was on his feet before I could even open my mouth to respond. "WHAT DID I JUST SAY ABOUT OUR BUSINESS NOT BEING ANY OF YOUR BUSINESS?!"

Jay-chan sat still, not even flinching, as Piccolo screamed in her face. The demon's hands clenched into fists as he tried desperately to maintain control over his emotions.

"I wasn't talking to you, Piccolo. So Tiffy?" Jay looked at me expectantly. What the heck?! Why do I have to answer?!

Lucky for me, the tall green man stepped between Jay and I. "She's not telling you shit…" His voice dripped with acid.

Jay-chan gave Piccolo a disaffected stare before mumbling, "Do you really think I'm scared of you?"

The Namek grunted in frustration.

My best friend's eyes narrowed suddenly, "What are you hiding, Piccolo? Afraid Tiffy will tell me she's had better?"

I swear I blinked just once and the demon lord had Jay-chan pinned against the opposite wall, but even THAT didn't stop her. "Is it true, Tiffy?"

I double blinked and burned red hot under the lethal glare Piccolo turned on me. "Actually, no… that's not true…"

The Namek's jaw dropped and he lost his grip on Jay, who fell to the ground and sauntered over with a victorious smile on her face. "So he was good, huh?"

"God dammit, don't talk about me like I'm not even here!" Piccolo snarled in frustration.

I smiled softly, remembering…

_Even the best fall down sometimes,_

_Even the stars refuse to shine,_

_Out of the back you fall in time,_

_I somehow find,_

_You and I,_

_Collide…_

"Yeah, he was," I giggled.

Jay-chan squealed and grabbed my wrist. She yanked me off of the couch and drew me toward my bedroom, "We can talk in private in here. Don't know about you, but I don't like being scrutinized by a Namek with a slug up his ass when I'm talking."

With that last comment, Jay dashed into my room and locked it right before Piccolo slammed into it. "YOU'RE GUNNA PAY IN BLOOD FOR THAT REMARK, YOU LITTLE BRAT!"

My best friend chuckled, "Hah! Sure, if you can get to me, Pickle-Ho!"

"I'LL BLAST THIS FUCKING DOOR DOWN!"

"No!" I screamed. "I'll make this up to you, Piccolo, I promise!" I tried really hard not to giggle, but this was just too silly, even for me.

"Yeah," Jay-chan snorted, "She'll 'make it up' to you so you should start kissing ass now!"

I heard Piccolo mumbled something and walk away.

Jay breathed a sigh of relief, "Well, that's better… So… let's chat…"

_Don't stop here,_

_I've lost my place,_

_I'm close behind_

The sun had set and it was well into the evening. Jay-chan had left about an hour ago… When we finally came out of my room… Piccolo was no where to be found…

I sat on the couch, my head in my hands… Dammit… He must have been really offended with my talking to Jay… But I tell Jay-chan everything… and it's not like I was bashing him! All I was doing was complimenting him… and bragging… as Jay readily pointed out…

My cheeks grew warm as I thought about just how wonderful it had been making love with Piccolo. But… where is he now? Where has he gone to?

KNOCK KNOCK

I was stirred from my thoughts by a gentle rapping at my door. Please let it be Piccolo… I prayed as I padded over to the door.

My fingers undid the bolt and latch automatically and, when I opened the door, I found myself staring at a pair of moccasined feet. I raised my head swiftly and found deep onyx eyes staring into mine. "Piccolo…"

He was quiet for a moment and then shifted his weight awkwardly.

"Um… Where were you?" I ventured. The silence between us was beyond weird and uncomfortable.

"I had to get out of there… I didn't wanna hear you and Jay jabbering about me…"

I smiled sadly, "We didn't say anything bad about you…"

He looked directly into my eyes and I looked to the floor, suddenly shy.

"In fact," I added nervously, "we talked about what a good person you are… and… how happy I am to be with you… especially like _that_…"

Piccolo didn't say anything as he approached me. Strong arms gathered me up and we crossed the threshold as one. He kicked the door closed and marched us over to my bedroom. I pressed my cheek to his and closed my eyes for a moment, taking in the warmth of his skin, feeling his jaw muscles clench and tense.

He lowered me onto my bed and sat beside me. Reaching into his shirt, he drew a box out and kept it concealed in his massive hand. "I figured I'd make myself useful while I was out… so… just in case… I'll let you hang onto these."

Piccolo handed me a box of condoms.

_Even the best fall down sometimes,_

_Even the wrong words seem to rhyme,_

_Out of the doubt that fills my mind,_

_I somehow find,_

_You and I,_

_Collide…_

My eyes widened considerably. "Wha? You? How did you get these? Why did you get these? I thought you were mad at me!" I was stupefied.

Piccolo wasn't looking at me. His eyes had that far away look to them. "I'm not mad at you, kid. You'd know for sure if I was." His eyes met mine for a brief moment and a sly smile graced his face. "And don't even ask how I got those… It's a long story."

I was dying to know what havoc Piccolo had wreaked on whoever had sold him the condoms, but the words died on my lips as I turned his face to mine. Leaning forward, I pressed a hand to his chest and touched my lips to his in a gentle kiss. The Namek's powerful hands grasped my shoulders and pulled me down on top of him as he eased back onto the mattress. I melted into his embrace.

A clawed hand delved into the thickness of my hair and I was overwhelmed by the sensations his touch sent through my entire being. I pulled away in shock.

"Piccolo?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you."

He blinked. Confused. "For what?"

"Everything…"

_You finally find,_

_You and I,_

_Collide… _

_You finally find,_

_You and I,_

_Collide…_

A/N: Sooo… that's the end! I might write some short follow-ups, I'm especially intrigued by the idea of writing a short on Piccolo and his hunt for those mysterious condoms… but we'll see. Hope you enjoyed it! I know I sure did! Hee hee! Please review.


End file.
